Author Date

2025-03-14

Degree Name

Department

Psychology

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Defense Date

2025-03-14

Publication Date

2025-03-19

First Faculty Advisor

Dr. Michael Larson

First Faculty Reader

Dr. Patrick Steffen

Honors Coordinator

Dr. Ed Gantt

Keywords

Intermittent Pneumatic Compression, recovery, heart rate variability, autonomic nervous system, athletic performance

Abstract

Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) technology has historic use in promoting fluid movement throughout the body, specifically the legs following surgery. When used in athletics and sports performance training, IPC boots help athletes recover faster and reduce soreness in the lower legs. Research has demonstrated that these boots can significantly shorten recovery times after use. However, the specific mechanisms through which these boots promote recovery remain unclear. One possibility is that IPC boots enhance parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity, which may reduce physiological stress; however, this hypothesis has not yet been formally tested. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of autonomic nervous system functioning. Some metrics of HRV, like the high frequency (HF) component of HRV, indicate parasympathetic activity, while others like the low frequency (LF) component of HRV indicate an interaction between both parts of the autonomic nervous system and blood pressure changes. This study will use HRV as the method to test the mechanism being employed by the boots. So, this study aims to investigate the specific mechanism by which IPC boots facilitate recovery, focusing on the role of the PNS as the primary contributor to this process. We hypothesized the PNS is the main player in recovery and measured a variety of HRV metrics in conjunction with subjective scales of mood and soreness to determine the PNS’s role. Following a design of pre-, mid-, post1-, and post2- treatment heart rate variability (HRV) and subjective soreness and mood collection, 50 participants displayed significant HRV changes in context of parasympathetic, sympathetic, and baroreceptor interaction (Mean HR p<.001; LF log p < .001; HF p = .10; RMSSD p = .04; SDNN p<.001; Soreness p = .01; Mood p = .10). These findings suggest IPC boots do affect autonomic nervous system function. Further research is needed to determine the magnitude of IPC effect compared to other treatments of recovery, larger sample sizes, and more generalizable population pool.