Applied Sciences, Free Full-Text

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Compression sportswear is widely used for enhancing exercise performances, facilitating recovery, and preventing injuries. Despite prior findings that confirmed positive effects on physical recovery after exercises, whether compression sportswear can enhance exercise performances has not been determined. Thus, this systematic meta-analysis examined the effects of compression sportswear on exercise performances including speed, endurance, strength and power, functional motor performance, and sport-related performance. We calculated effect sizes by comparing changes in exercise performances between the compression garment and the control group. Two additional moderator variable analyses determined whether altered exercise performances were different based on the types of participants and compression sportswear. For the total 769 participants from 42 included studies, the random-effect model found that compression sportswear significantly improved speed, endurance, and functional motor performances. Additional moderator variable analyses identified significant positive effects on speed for athletes, and endurance and functional motor performance for moderately trained adults. Further, whole-body compression garments were beneficial for improving speed, and lower-body compression garments effectively advanced endurance performances. For functional motor performances, both upper- and lower-body suits were effective. These findings suggest that wearing compression sportswear may be a viable strategy to enhance overall exercise performances.