Improving athlete’s performances and recovery times could be as simple as wearing compression garments or ‘Skins’, according to Dr Rob Duffield, lecturer in the School of Human Movement at Charles Sturt University (CSU). With Johann Edge, a researcher at Massey University in New Zealand, he is looking at what effect Skins have if worn during and after hard training sessions such as simulating an actual rugby game. If Skins reduce muscle damage, it is possible performance will improve. Athletes have been using Skins based on anecdotal evidence for some time and Dr Duffield says it is common for science to play catch-up with trends set by the sporting fraternity. “Athletes are always looking for an edge and they’ll use anything even if they only perceive that it makes them perform and feel better. The science then either proves or disproves the theory.” Although Dr Duffield is still awaiting final data to come in there is already considerable interest in his research. “We start testing the compression garments for Cricket Australia this week. If there is a performance benefit, we’ll look more in depth to see if there’s a psychological component or whether there are physiological changes occurring as a result of wearing Skins,” Dr Duffield said.