Influences of compression cycling skinsuit on energy consumption of amateur male cyclists

Abstract

Energy consumption differences of two cycling garments during short-term cycling were studied. Eleven amateur male cyclists participated in two cycling sessions over two days while wearing a newly designed compression cycling skinsuit (CCS) with stripes simulating kinesio tape, and a conventional compression garment (CG) (control garment). In each session, the participants performed a set of 12 short-term cycling combinations of three workloads and four cadences with either the CCS or the CG. Each combination lasted for 30 s. Garment pressure values at the thigh, oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were collected and analyzed. The CCS provided significantly different pressure values (P < 0.05) at two front muscles (rectus femoris and vastus lateralis) and one back muscle (biceps femoris) during all three workloads, and at a front middle muscle (vastus medialis) only during low-workload cycling. There was a statistically significant interaction between garment and workload (P < 0.05) on VO2 when cycling was done at 120 rpm. The CCS required low VO2 (P < 0.05) when the cycling combination of workload and cadence were reversed: either low-workload and high-cadence or high-workload and low-cadence cycling. Simultaneously, the CCS had a significant impact on HR during high-workload cycling (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the CCS’s higher compression power at the thigh muscles was found to be effective in energy consumption reduction during short-term cycling with low and high workload.