Penn State Football: New Compression Suit Final Stage of ‘Regeneration Friday’

There’s a new Friday tradition in the Lasch Football Building.

Call it regeneration Friday: a final walk-through on the practice field, some 45 minutes of light conditioning to get the blood flowing, then, once Penn State arrives at the team hotel the night before a game, comes the suit.

Though not required, most players wear a lightweight compression body suit Friday night and into Saturday morning. It’s designed to better circulate blood and move lactic acid through the muscles and out through the blood stream. By Saturday morning, strength coach Craig Fitzgerald said, guys should feel refreshed.

“The old way of not doing anything and resting, you actually get tighter,” Fitzgerald said. “So we like to do a little something on Fridays before we play.”

Friday’s conditioning, Fitzgerald said, might typically start with cardiovascular work such as the bike and elliptical. The team will use rollers to break up scar tissue and muscles from a week’s worth of training and practice. Then comes a rope stretch, where each player holds a stretch for a fixed amount of time, followed by hurdle work. Guys will then move into hot tub and cold tub. In all, it takes about 45 minutes to complete the circuit.

“We get a little sweat, which I love, I think it’s great because I know they’re moving some more lactic acid out of their body,” Fitzgerald said.

The suit is a new addition for 2012. Fitzgerald used it last year at South Carolina. Some other varsity sports, including the women’s soccer team, use them too. Fitzgerald declined to say which brand Penn State uses.

He compared it to a long-term massage. “When you wake up you’re feeling better than you did when you went to bed.”

“It’s an elite deal where this is really the last thing we can do for you before you go out and play, physically,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s another thing, a no-stone-unturned approach that a lot of coaches have.

“Our head coach is the same way. What else can we do for our guys?”

Players are buying in. Running back Derek Day said the suit is difficult to get into at first, but once inside, it breathes easy.

‘I tried one on over the summer,” offensive tackle Mike Farrell said. “The strength staff gave out a few of them. As long as you wait after a workout and you’re not sweating when you’re trying to get into it, your body temperature’s cool, I don’t mind the way it feels at all.’

“I couldn’t tell you the exact science, but if it helps with recovery and feels good for the guys, that’s what we’ll do,” linebacker Mike Mauti said.