Whilst you might think astronauts and elite athletes are a world apart, they do have one thing in common. Both can benefit from wearing compression garments!
CAPE Bionics have revolutionised athletic compression wear by using scientific principles from the design of spacesuits to produce the most advanced compression garments both on and off the planet!
The application of Space Science to Sports Science
CAPE Bionics founder Dr James Waldie has spent over 20 years researching and designing compression suits for astronauts. He was involved with a number spacesuit programs with MIT, NASA and the European Space Agency, and developed his own skinsuit design which was used on the International Space Station.
Space travel places a huge amount of physiological strain on the human body. The weightlessness experienced in microgravity can result in a significant loss of muscle mass and bone mass. Bone loss during a prolonged space mission can be as much as 2% per month which puts astronauts at risk of developing severe osteoporosis and increases susceptibility to fractures on return to earth. The cardiovascular system is also significantly impacted as blood pressure becomes equal over the body, blood volume reduces about 11%, and cardiac muscle mass reduces about 8-10%. It has been shown that compression can play a vital role in minimising these loses experienced by astronauts on long space missions, and in preparation for return back to Earth.
In order to achieve the greatest benefits from the compression, the space suits required extreme precision and custom sizing. Dr Waldie developed new protocols and algorithms to tailor the garments to fit each astronaut individually. The suits became state-of-the-art, combining the latest medical and aerospace compression designs with new developments in materials, custom-fabrication and physiological measurement.
Proven by astronauts and now available to elite athletes
In the development of the space suits, Dr Waldie realised that the athletic population has been left behind in the development of leading-edge compression wear. Off the shelf athletic compression garments have no individual sizing or specific compression regimes making them more of a fashion item rather than a piece of sporting equipment to optimise performance and recovery. Research has shown considerable variability in the pressure exerted by off the shelf brands (Hill et al., 2015, Brown et al., 2022a) meaning that most athletes will not receive adequate compression to achieve physiological benefits.
CAPE Bionics was founded with the intention of providing athletes with access to the most advanced compression wear possible, by using technology developed for and with the medical and aerospace industries to ensure optimum fit and compression. Research has shown that good fitting compression wear is critical for maximising the physiological benefits. Poorly fitting compression garments have been shown to have little effect on performance and recovery, and in some cases may have detrimental effects (Wannop et al., 2016).
Custom fit – The new world of compression for athletes
Current independent research comparing custom fit compression to off the shelf compression garments on markers of athlete recovery, has shown that custom fit compression garments significantly improved isometric strength recovery of rugby players compared to a sham treatment or off the shelf compression garments (Brown et al., 2022b). In fact, the off the shelf compression garments were no more effective than a sham treatment in facilitating recovery! It was recommended that athletes seeking to maintain strength after damaging exercise should choose custom fit compression to aid their recovery (Brown et al., 2022b).
CAPE ensure that athletes receive custom fitted compression wear based on a 3D scan to guarantee optimum fit and therefore greater physiological benefits. As each garment is custom fit, the precise and optimum compression regime can be imposed for optimum benefit for different applications, such as travel, recovery, performance and rehabilitation.
By combining custom sizing and specific compression regimes based on years of research, experience and validation at NASA, CAPE Bionics offer a new world of compression to elite sport.
REFERENCES:
- Brown, F, Hill, JA., Pedler, CR. (2022a). Compression Garments for Recovery from Muscle Damage: Evidence and Implications of Dose Responses. Current Sports Medicine Reports (21 (2); 45-52.
- Brown, F, Jeffries, O, Gissane, C, Howatson, G, van Someren, K, Pedlar, C, Myers, T, and Hill, JA. (2022b): Custom-fitted compression garments enhance recovery from muscle damage in rugby players. J Strength Cond Res. 36(1): 212-219.
- Hill, J., Howatson, G., Someren, K., Davidson, S., & Pedlar, C. (2015). The variation in pressures exerted by commercially available compression garments. Sports Engineering (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.), 18, 115-121.
- Wannop, J. W., Worobets, J. T., Madden, R., & Stefanyshyn, D. J. (2016). Influence of Compression and Stiffness Apparel on Vertical Jump Performance. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30, 1093-1101.
