This study investigated whether commercially available compression garments (COMP) exerting a moderate level of pressure and/or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) accelerate recovery following a cross-country sprint skiing competition compared with a control group (CON) consisting of active recovery only. Twenty-one senior (12 males, 9 females) and 11 junior (6 males, 5 females) Swedish national team skiers performed an outdoor sprint skiing competition involving four sprints lasting approximately 3 to 4 min. Before the competition, skiers were matched by sex and skiing level (senior versus junior) and randomly assigned to COMP (n = 11), NMES (n = 11) or CON (n = 10). Creatine kinase (CK), urea, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, and perceived muscle pain were measured before and 8, 20, 44 and 68 h after competition. Neither COMP nor NMES promoted the recovery of blood biomarkers, CMJ or perceived pain post-competition compared with CON (all p > 0.05). When grouping all 32 participants, urea and perceived muscle pain increased from baseline, peaking at 8 h (standardised mean difference (SMD) (95% confidence intervals (CIs))) 2.8 (2.3 to 3.2)) and 44 h (odds ratio (95% CI) 3.3 (2.1 to 5.1)) post-competition, respectively. Additionally, CMJ was lower than baseline 44 and 68 h post-competition in both males and females (p < 0.05). CK increased from baseline in males, peaking at 44 h (SMD 1.4 (-0.4 to 0.9)), but was decreased in females at 20 h post-competition (SMD -0.8 (-1.4 to -0.2)). In conclusion, cross-country sprint skiing induced symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage peaking 8 to 44 h post-competition. However, neither COMP nor NMES promoted physiological or perceptual recovery compared with CON.

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