Commercially available compression garments or electrical stimulation do not enhance recovery following a sprint competition in elite cross-country skiers

Figures & data

Table 1. Mean ± standard deviation descriptive characteristics of the senior and junior female and male cross-country skiers.

	Seniors		Juniors
	Females	Males	Females	Males
n	9	12	5	6
Age (years)	23.2 ± 2.6	25.2 ± 3.6	18.2 ± 0.8	18.0 ± 0.6
Height (cm)	171.7 ± 5.7	184.6 ± 6.7	170.6 ± 3.3	180.0 ± 7.8
Body mass (kg)	65.3 ± 4.3	77.6 ± 6.6	62.6 ± 6.7	71.1 ± 9.6
FIS points	62.1 ± 44.8	75.7 ± 33.9	142.0 ± 18.9	212.1 ± 85.4

Note: FIS, International Ski Federation (fewer points indicate a higher international ranking).

Table 2. Mean ±  standard deviation race time, heart rate and post-race peak blood lactate concentration in senior and junior female and male skiers.

		Females					Males
	Heat	Race time (s)	HRpeak (beats/min)	HRavg (beats/min)	HRavg (%HRpeak)	B[La^−]peak (mmol/L)	Race Time (s)	HRpeak (beats/min)	HRavg (beats/min)	HRavg (%HRpeak)	B[La^−]peak (mmol/L)
Seniors	Prologue	249.7 ± 9.3	180 ± 7	169 ± 11	94 ± 4	9.1 ± 1.4	221.4 ± 5.8	180 ± 5	172 ± 5	96 ± 2	10.1 ± 1.9
	Quarter-final	242.5 ± 7.7	181 ± 10	167 ± 11	92 ± 4	7.9 ± 2.3	218.9 ± 3.1	181 ± 5	173 ± 5	96 ± 1	9.4 ± 1.0
	Semi-final	246.2 ± 11.6	180 ± 10	167 ± 9	92 ± 4	8.9 ± 3.0	215.2 ± 5.9	181 ± 4	171 ± 6	95 ± 2	10.3 ± 1.6
	Final	244.1 ± 11.0	177 ± 9	166 ± 11	94 ± 3	9.4 ± 3.3	213.4 ± 7.6	179 ± 6	172 ± 6	96 ± 1	11.4 ± 1.7
Juniors	Prologue	261.6 ± 3.3	184 ± 5	175 ± 7	96 ± 2	10.9 ± 1.1	239.5 ± 10.7	185 ± 9	180 ± 8	97 ± 0	10.1 ± 2.1
	Quarter-final	253.9 ± 3.3	182 ± 4	173 ± 7	95 ± 2	10.5 ± 2.8	231.4 ± 9.0	186 ± 9	179 ± 10	96 ± 1	10.6 ± 1.8
	Semi-final	260.6 ± 5.4	180 ± 5	173 ± 5	96 ± 2	10.5 ± 2.3	236.4 ± 8.2	183 ± 9	175 ± 12	95 ± 2	10.3 ± 2.8
	Final	257.1 ± 5.2	179 ± 4	172 ± 5	96 ± 2	12.0 ± 1.9	233.1 ± 5.4	183 ± 9	176 ± 9	96 ± 2	11.6 ± 1.9

Note: HR_peak, peak heart rate; HR_avg, average heart rate, HR_avg, average heart rate relative to peak heart rate, B[La⁻]_peak, peak blood lactate.

Table 3. Mean ± standard deviation responses for recovery parameters in the control (CON, n = 10), compression (COMP, n = 11) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES, n = 11) group at baseline, 8, 20, 44 and 68 h after a cross-country sprint skiing competition.

Parameter	Time	CON	COMP	NMES
Creatine kinase (µkat)	Baseline	3.3 ± 2.5	4.8 ± 5.2	3.7 ± 2.8
	8 h	4.5 ± 2.4	7.6 ± 4.5	5.2 ± 4.0
	20 h	4.6 ± 3.6	3.5 ± 3.0	3.1 ± 2.7
	44 h	5.1 ± 2.6	6.6 ± 3.5	5.4 ± 3.8
	68 h	3.9 ± 2.3	5.8 ± 4.3	5.3 ± 2.7
Urea (mmol/L)	Baseline	3.7 ± 0.7	5.6 ± 2.6	4.5 ± 1.4
	8 h	8.6 ± 2.8	9.6 ± 3.2	10.7 ± 2.7
	20 h	7.2 ± 2.4	9.5 ± 2.3	10.4 ± 6.7
	44 h	7.4 ± 2.4	8.2 ± 2.3	9.2 ± 4.0
	68 h	6.1 ± 1.4	8.1 ± 3.5	7.5 ± 1.6
Countermovement jump (cm)	Baseline	30.6 ± 4.2	31.0 ± 4.6	31.1 ± 5.8
	8 h	30.3 ± 4.7	30.4 ± 4.8	32.1 ± 6.7
	20 h	29.9 ± 4.2	29.3 ± 4.9	31.0 ± 6.1
	44 h	29.0 ± 3.3	28.9 ± 4.4	30.0 ± 6.6
	68 h	29.1 ± 4.0	29.6 ± 5.4	30.6 ± 6.4
Perceived muscle pain (AU)	Baseline	1.4 ± 1.4	2.6 ± 1.4	2.8 ± 2.5
	8 h	4.6 ± 2.4	3.7 ± 2.2	3.7 ± 2.3
	20 h	4.1 ± 2.4	3.7 ± 1.3	3.9 ± 2.0
	44 h	5.0 ± 1.8	4.7 ± 2.1	4.3 ± 2.3
	68 h	4.7 ± 2.3	4.2 ± 2.0	3.7 ± 2.1

Note: No significant time × condition effect existed for any of the recovery parameters.

Figure 1. Creatine kinase (A), urea (B), countermovement jump (C) and perceived muscle pain (D) values for the three recovery groups combined (CON, COMP and NMES) at baseline, and 8, 20, 44 and 68 h after a cross-country sprint skiing competition. Time points included within the shaded regions are significantly different from baseline (P < .05). Significantly different from baseline in males (a, b) and females (c) (P < .05).