Athletes - CAPE Bionics

With the start of the NBA season approaching, we look into the benefits of customised compression

June 23, 2025

Physiological and recovery demands of NBA competition The sport of basketball involves repeated bouts of high intensity exercise with explosive activity such as sprints, jumps, accelerations, decelerations, and rapid change of direction (Calleja-Gonzalez et al., 2016). The NBA is considered the highest level of basketball performance globally. NBA players are often required to play consecutive matches with limited time for recovery between games. The NBA competition schedule involves 82 regular season games between October and April, and playoffs between April and June. Each team plays on average three games per week (McLean et al., 2019), and sometimes as many as

CAPE V Off the Shelf Compression brands – What’s the difference?

June 16, 2025

CAPE are more than just another compression brand. CAPE garments are medical grade compression garments custom fitted to each individual based on a 3D scan. This ensures that elite athletes are provided with professional compression garments that actually work! CAPE Bionics Other compression brands Medical grade compression – TGA class 1 medical device. Not medical grade compression. Sized based on a 3D scan of each athlete. Generic sizing based on measures of height and weight. Customised to each individual athlete – One size garment fits one athlete. Athletes from a large range of height and weight are assigned the same

How can soccer players benefit from custom fit compression?

June 9, 2025

Compression garments have been widely used by soccer players for many years. We take a look into the demands of the game, competition schedules and how compression garments can assist soccer players with performance, recovery, and busy travel schedules. Demands of professional soccer The physiological demands of a professional soccer match are high. It has been reported that professional soccer players on average cover 10-12 km during a game at various different intensities (Di Salvo et al., 2013). On average, during a high-level soccer game, players engage in physical activities of high intensity every 60 seconds and can perform up

Custom fit compression – Positive benefits for every athlete

June 2, 2025

Compression garments work but only if they fit perfectly and apply the correct compression regime. Research has shown that off the shelf compression garments provide variable levels of compression and inconsistent benefits (Hill et al., 2015). Custom fit is the only way to ensure that each athlete receives accurate compression for positive benefits every time. Think of it this way: with standard sized garments, a few athletes may receive positive benefits, but only if by chance the garment fits their body shape and size perfectly. Highly unlikely for most people, especially elite athletes who are not typical shapes and sizes!

Custom Fit – The New World of Compression Part 3 – Professional Compression for Professional Athletes

May 19, 2025

In our previous blogs we’ve introduced a new world of custom fit compression, highlighting differences between custom fit and standard sized compression garments in terms of the level of compression applied (Hill et al., 2015), and the proven recovery benefits of custom fit compared to off the shelf compression garments or no compression (Brown et al., 2022). So why should professional athletes choose custom fit compression? Professional athletes deserve professional compression, that is compression that actually works! Professional athletes are required to perform at their best, hence the need to get the most out of their compression garments. Standard

Custom Fit – The New World of Compression Part 2: Accurate compression with custom fit, variable pressure with standard sized garments

May 12, 2025

Research has shown that custom fit compression results in faster recovery than standard sized (off the shelf) compression garments (Brown et al., 2022a). Why? For compression garments to work they must fit correctly and have the correct amount of pressure applied. Custom fit based on a 3D scan, is the only way to achieve perfect fit and accurate compression for every athlete. With standard sized compression garments, athletes are sized to garments based on measures of height and weight, meaning that athletes of all different shapes and sizes are fitted to the same sized garment. It’s impossible for all athletes

Custom Fit Compression – The new world of sports compression that actually works!

May 5, 2025

Compression works, but only if garments fit correctly and apply optimal compression regimes. Introducing custom fit compression, the new world of medical grade compression for elite athletes with proven benefits! If you think compression doesn’t work, then you’re thinking about standard sized (off the shelf) compression garments. These garments are sized generically, have been shown to have variable levels of compression (Hill et al., 2016) and therefore inconsistent benefits (Weakley et al. 2021). How can these garments possibly optimise recovery and performance of elite athletes? Quite simply they don’t! This is why scientists at Cape Bionics have applied leading edge technology from

Why CAPE Garments are Better than Pneumatic Compression Devices

April 28, 2025

Inflatable compression boots and arm sleeves have become a popular tool amongst athletes for improving recovery but what does the science tell us about their effectiveness? The use of compression originated in the medical industry as a way of treating burns and vascular conditions. Due to the associated physiological benefits of compression, athletes have been using static compression garments to improve recovery by increasing venous return, reducing oedema and reducing muscle soreness. More recently the use of inflatable compression boots and sleeves has become popular and they are perceived to be beneficial for athletic recovery. These devices use intermittent pneumatic

Compression Garments – Athlete perception of recovery

April 14, 2025

Research into the effectiveness of compression garments has focused largely on the impact on athlete recovery. Both objective and subjective markers have been used in research and practice to determine the recovery status of an athlete. Objective markers may be performance markers, physiological markers or biochemical markers, whereas subjective markers are feelings reported by the athlete often by using a questionnaire. A recent review comparing objective and subjective measures of athlete well-being, demonstrated that subjective measures reflected training load with more sensitivity and consistency than objective measures. It was concluded that subjective measures may be used with confidence to monitor

Compression Garments for Team Sports – What, When and How?

April 7, 2025

Compression garments have been used by team sport athletes for many years to improve recovery and enhance performance. We take a look into the what, when and how of compression garments for team sport athletes. What garment type, size and compression regime is most effective? Garment Type Research has reported beneficial effects on recovery with various types of compression garments including calf sleeves, tights, shorts, and arms sleeves. A recent study with junior elite basketball players showed that all garment types (shorts, socks, tights) improved venous return, muscle blood flow and muscle oxygenation with full length tights being the most

Enhancing recovery in a busy schedule

March 11, 2025

Multi-day sports events, whether it’s an intense multi-stage cycling race, cricket test match or major football tournament, demand effective recovery strategies to achieve peak physical performance. Unlike one-off races or competitions, the extended nature of these events can lead to cumulative fatigue. Optimising recovery between stages or days is therefore critical to maintaining high performance levels. One way that this can be achieved is through the use of compression therapy – and the research is compelling around its efficacy! Compression therapy works by applying controlled pressure to a select part of the body. This pressure helps improve circulation, reduce swelling,

Why custom fit compression is so important

December 20, 2024

Ever wondered why your compression garments aren’t working? Standard sized (off the shelf) compression garments are proven to provide variable compression and inconsistent benefits. Custom fit compression is the only way to ensure genuine and consistent benefits for every individual. Click on the video below to see why custom fit compression is so important.

Why it’s impossible to achieve accurate and effective compression with standard sized compression garments.

November 28, 2024

For compression garments to be effective, the compression regime must be accurate. Standard sized (off the shelf) compression garments have generic sizes (S, M, L, XL) and individuals are assigned a size based on their height and weight. Given the differences in body shape and size, it is impossible for every individual to receive optimal compression from off the shelf garments. In a popular commercial compression brand, a medium garment is recommended for individuals ranging from 150cm/65kg all the way to 180cm/85kg. Given such a wide range for a single size, it is not possible to achieve accurate and effective

Not all compression garments are the same: The differences between sports compression garments and medical grade custom fit

October 30, 2024

You may think all compression garments are the same, however there are significant differences between standard sized sports compression garments and custom fit medical grade compression garments. The importance of custom fit For compression garments to be effective, it is important that they fit correctly and apply the optimum compression regimes. If the compression is too low then there will be insufficient pressure to affect blood flow, whereas compression levels that are too high may be restrictive and consequently hinder athlete performance and recovery (Wannop et al., 2016). Sports compression garments are sized on measures of height and body mass,

How CAPE’s world leading technology has revolutionized compression

October 9, 2024

In the compression world, accuracy matters. CAPE garments are sized to each individual based on a unique 3D scanning process and our patented design system AutoTailor. This provides the highest level of precision compression regimes for every individual, generating genuine and consistent benefits. Furthermore, it’s quick and easy to prescribe, as it only takes 2 minutes for us to scan an athlete. This is why professional sports teams around the world are now choosing CAPE to provide custom fit compression for their athletes. It’s not just athletes that are choosing CAPE. NASA plans to deploy our technology on orbit to understand how

How can professional football players benefit from custom fit compression?

August 20, 2024

Players may not fully recover between games in such congested seasons, and this may impact performance on the field. Players participating in two or more games per week with less than 4 days recovery are also at greater risk of injury (Alterriba – Bartes et al., 2020). Compression garments are widely used by professional footballers to reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery during the competitive season. However, for compression garments to be consistently effective, it’s important that they fit correctly and accurately. Standard fit (off the shelf garments) which are sized on height and weight, have been shown to provide

Category: Athletes