Does anyone wear compression socks to recover after a tough ride? Have you experienced any results?
Since I've ramped up my riding lately, the legs have been feeling pretty wiped and sore (with some swelling in my ankles), so I thought I'd give compression socks a try. I'm wearing them now after today's climbing ride, and the legs feel pretty comfy at the moment. Tomorrow will tell if the legs feel fresher or not.
I found this scientific article on the use of compression garments for recovery:
Compression garments and recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage: a meta-analysis
Data were extracted from 12 studies, where variables were measured at baseline and at 24 or 48 or 72 h postexercise. Analysis of pooled data indicated that the use of compression garments had a moderate effect in reducing the severity of DOMS (Hedges’ g=0.403, 95% CI 0.236 to 0.569, p<0.001), muscle strength (Hedges’ g=0.462, 95% CI 0.221 to 0.703, p<0.001), muscle power (Hedges’ g=0.487, 95% CI 0.267 to 0.707, p<0.001) and CK [creatine kinase] (Hedges’ g=0.439, 95% CI 0.171 to 0.706, p<0.001). These results indicate that compression garments are effective in enhancing recovery from muscle damage.
—Howatson et al, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013