Dynamic compression enhances pressure-to-pain threshold in elite athlete recovery: exploratory study. J Strength Cond Res 29(5): 1263–1272, 2015—Athlete recovery-adaptation is crucial to the progress and performance of highly trained athletes. The purpose of this study was to assess peristaltic pulse dynamic compression (PPDC) in reducing short-term pressure-to-pain threshold (PPT) among Olympic Training Center athletes after morning training. Muscular tenderness and stiffness are common symptoms of fatigue and exercise-induced muscle microtrauma and edema. Twenty-four highly trained athletes (men = 12 and women = 12) volunteered to participate in this study. The athletes were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. Pressure-to-pain threshold measurements were conducted with a manual algometer on 3 lower extremity muscles. Experimental group athletes underwent PPDC on both legs through computer-controlled circumferential inflated leggings that used a peristaltic-like pressure pattern from feet to groin. Pressures in each cell were set to factory defaults. Treatment time was 15 minutes. The control group performed the same procedures except that the inflation pump to the leggings was off. The experimental timeline included a morning training session, followed by a PPT pretest, treatment application (PPDC or control), an immediate post-test (PPT), and a delayed post-test (PPT) after the afternoon practice session. Difference score results showed that the experimental group's PPT threshold improved after PPDC treatment immediately and persisted the remainder of the day after afternoon practice. The control group showed no statistical change. We conclude that PPDC is a promising means of accelerating and enhancing recovery after the normal aggressive training that occurs in Olympic and aspiring Olympic athletes.

Les enthésopathies sur le squelette sont considérées comme des "marqueurs d'activité" en anthropologie biologique. L'étude de tels "marqueurs" pour des fossiles européens du Paléolithique supérieur et du Mésolithique offre l'opportunité d'enrichir notre connaissance des comportements et des modes de vie de ces populations et d'en illustrer certains aspects inconnus, notamment la division sexuelle du travail. Les lacunes méthodologiques (absence de référence médicale et de validation) que présente cette approche m'ont conduit à proposer une nouvelle méthode d'étude. Cette méthode, composée de 4 systèmes de cotation, a été testée sur un échantillon de référence (âge au décès, sexe et activité connus). L'analyse a permis de caractériser une relation entre les modifications osseuses et l'activité physique pour l'un des systèmes. Ce dernier a ensuite été appliqué à un ensemble de fossiles européens du Paléolithique supérieur et du Mésolithique (n = 95) dont les caractéristiques biologiques (âge et sexe) ont été réévaluées au moyen de méthodes fiables. Les résultats attestent de l'intérêt de la démarche. D'une part, ils permettent d'avancer l'hypothèse d'une division sexuelle du travail à ces périodes, avec une pratique du lancer dévolue aux hommes. Ils révèlent d'autre part des différences comportementales entre les populations gravettiennes et celles des périodes plus récentes, impliquant notamment une réduction des distances parcourues et une intensification de l'exploitation du milieu à la fin du Paléolithique supérieur et au Mésolithique. / In bioarchaeology, enthesopathies i.e. "musculoskeletal stress markers" are assumed to reflect the activity of the attaching musculature. The study of enthesopathies in European Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic human fossils offers the opportunity to improve our knowledge of the behaviours and lifestyles of these populations and to reveal some unknown aspects like sexual division of labour. The methodological gaps in this approach (e.g. absence of medical reference and validation) led me to propose a new method of studying enthesopathies based on current medical data. This method consists of four scoring systems and has been tested on a reference sample of known age at death, sex and activity. The analysis has established a link between osseous modifications and physical activity for one of the systems. The latter has been applied to a sample of Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic fossils (n = 95) after a new assessment of their sex and age at death by using reliable methods. The results give evidence of the relevance of this approach. First, they allow to propose the hypothesis of a sexual division of labour during this period, with throwing activities devolved to men. Second, the results reveal behavioural differences between Gravettian populations and more recent ones, implying a reduction in mobility and an intensification of subsistence activities at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic and during the Mesolithic.