While it’s generally assumed that compression gear is best after exercise, new research finds otherwise.
(Photo: Canva)
Published October 10, 2026 03:00AM
How we reported this story: The author is a health journalist and interviewed an exercise physiologist to weigh in on the benefits of compression gear for trail runners.
We may all be doing compression clothing the wrong way, according to new research.
The study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, found that wearing compression shorts during a long-distance race was actually more beneficial than wearing them during recovery.
“It was a really interesting study because it challenged the common assumption that compression garments should only really be used during recovery,” Julia Farid, MS, CPT, CES, an exercise physiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery Rehabilitation and Performance in West Palm Beach, who was not involved with the study, told Outside. “It really changed our mindset.”
Wearing Compression Garments During a Race May Help Your Muscles Recover Faster
The researchers behind the new study recruited 56 trail runners and put them into one of three groups: 19 participants wore compression shorts during a 26-kilometer race, 17 participants wore compression shorts after the race, and 20 people (the control group) did neither.
The researchers had the participants perform a series of exercises, including countermovement jumps and drop jumps, at three separate points: days before the race, immediately after the race, and two days after the race. For the countermovement jumps, the participants were instructed to jump as high as possible; for the drop jumps, the participants were instructed to step off a platform that was about 20 inches off the ground, then immediately jump as high as possible upon landing. The researchers measured how high the participants jumped and the timing of their jumps to calculate each participant’s reactive strength index (RSI), a metric used to evaluate a person’s lower body strength.
The researchers also tracked participants’ creatine kinase levels through blood samples collected immediately before the race, immediately after the race, and two days after the race. Creatine kinase is a biomarker (a biological molecule) that measures muscle stress.
The participants in the control group had higher increases in creatine kinase after the race than the participants who wore compression shorts during or after the race, which suggests they had more muscle damage.
Participants who wore compression shorts during the race showed statistically significant improvement in jumping power immediately after and up to two days after the race. Jumping power in those who wore them after the race still improved, but it was not statistically significant.
The results suggest that wearing compression garments during or after a long-distance race may have some benefits.
Does This Mean You Should Start Wearing Compression Garments While You’re Working Out?
The study is limited by the fact that the researchers only studied trail runners. “The results might not be super applicable to other populations,” Farid said. Another limitation, Farid added, is that wearing compression garments during long races or training sessions might be highly uncomfortable for some people.
“The main takeaway isn’t that everyone should run out and buy these garments,” Farid said. But if you’re an endurance athlete, trail runner, or hiker, it certainly can’t hurt to try wearing compression garments during your training, she explained. “Based on this study, everything seemed completely safe,” Farid said.
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