Bioceramic fabrics improve quiet standing posture and handstand stability in expert gymnasts
Résumé
Bioceramic fabrics have been claimed to improve blood circulation, thermoregulation and muscle
relaxation, thereby also improving muscular activity. Here we tested whether bioceramic fabrics have an
effect on postural control and contribute to improve postural stability. In Experiment 1, we tested
whether bioceramic fabrics contribute to reduce body-sway when maintaining standard standing
posture. In Experiment 2, we measured the effect of bioceramic fabrics on body-sway when maintaining
a more instable posture, namely a handstand hold. For both experiments, postural oscillations were
measured using a force platform with four strain gauges that recorded the displacements of the center of
pressure (CoP) in the horizontal plane. In half of the trials, the participants wore a full-body second skin
suit containing a bioceramic layer. In the other half of the trials, they wore a ‘placebo’ second skin suit
that had the same cut, appearance and elasticity as the bioceramic suit but did not contain the
bioceramic layer. In both experiments, the surface of displacement of the CoP was significantly smaller
when participants were wearing the bioceramic suit than when they were wearing the placebo suit. The
results suggest that bioceramic fabrics do have an effect on postural control and improve postural
stability.