Comparison of different cryotherapy recovery methods in elite junior cyclists

Abstract

Background/objectiveCold water immersion (CWI) and active recovery treatment (ACT) are commonly used recovery treatments for athletes between exercise bouts, but they are sometimes limited by space and availability of equipment in training and competition venues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether cold compression therapy (CCT) would provide the same effect as CWI and ACT as an alternative option in a hot environment.MethodsEight elite male junior cyclists (age, 15.5 ± 1.2 years; height, 167.7 ± 3.3 cm; body mass, 57.3 ± 3.5 kg; peak oxygen uptake, 64.7 ± 4.3 mL/kg/min) completed a maximal cycling test to determine their peak power output (PPO) and oxygen uptake. Then they completed three tests using randomised recovery protocol of CWI, CCT and ACT for 15 minutes. Each test consisted of two 35-minute exercise bouts, with 5 minutes of warm-up, 15 minutes of cycling at 75% PPO and 15 minutes maximal trial. The two exercise bouts were separated by 60 minutes (5 minutes cool-down, 10 minutes preparation for recovery treatment, 15 minutes recovery treatment, and 30 minutes passive recovery).ResultsThere was no significant difference between average power output, blood lactate, rating of perceived exertion, and heart rate for two time-trial bouts for all recovery treatments. A significant decrease in core temperature was noted prior to the start of the second exercise bout for CWI.ConclusionCCT, CWI and ACT are all useful recovery treatments between exercise bouts.

A 2-Week Specific Volleyball Training Supported by the Whole Body Cryostimulation Protocol Induced an Increase of Growth Factors and Counteracted Deterioration of Physical Performance

“…The response of these therapies is depended on an applied kind of exercise, its duration, frequency, intensity and other factors: such body composition, gender and environmental conditions ( Costello et al, 2015 ; Stephens et al, 2017 ). Recently published papers revealed that these two cold therapies used after high-intensity exercise, may not always bring significant and beneficial changes in muscle damage markers compare to other recovery methods ( Chan et al, 2016 ; Krueger et al, 2018 ). Still, the review written by Rose and colleagues has shown that the application of WBC following an intensive exercise had an analgesic effect and improved physical performance in 71% of the analyzed studies.…”

The effectiveness of a cooling vest in post-exercise recovery in sprint kayaking elite male athletes

“…The increased blood flow enables to eliminate more quickly the waste products such as lactate, thus promoting a better and faster recovery [11,27]. If it is worn regularly in the hot days, the cooling vest will reduce fatigue, by decreasing lactate levels and, consequently, the probability of developing an injury or reach an overtraining level is lower [6].…”

“…It is common to use active recovery (AR) after submaximal and maximal intensity efforts in order to decrease BLC levels, thus reducing the muscular fatigue [5] and, consequently, the rate of injuries. Cryotherapy is a recovery modality that is usually applied to speed up the regeneration of tissues and to prevent swelling of acute musculoskeletal injuries [6][7][8], especially for the athletes who have a training and competition schedule that requires several bouts of exercises within one day or in environments of extreme heat and humidity [6]. Cryotherapy can be used with two different purposes that are related between each other: to recover between exercise bouts or to recover during heat stress [9].…”

Потенційні Вигоди Пневмокомпресійної Терапії В Умовах Пандемії Covid-19

“…Ряд досліджень за участю спортсменів показав, що короткотривалі метаболічні зміни незначні і, можливо, залежать від методики пневмопресингу. Окрема процедура в перерві між фізичними навантаженнями збільшувала вміст лактату в плазмі (автори не виключили можливість посиленого виведення лактату з м'язів) [9]; навпаки, близьке за дизайном дослідження виявило не значуще зниження лактату [10]; третє близьке за дизайном дослідження, де пневмокомпресія була поєднана з гіпотермією, показало зниження лактату одразу після терапії на 62%, однак подібний ефект дала гіпотермія без компресії [11] Уявлення про дію пневмопресингу основане на спостереженнях явищ м'язевого розслаблення, рефлекторного гальмування вищих відділів центральної нервової системи (сонливість, релаксація), нормалізації тонуса симпатичного і парасимпатичного відділів автономної нервової системи. У підтримці адаптаційно-компенсаторних реакцій мають роль локальна (зони підвищеного навантаження: ноги, спина) та загальна корекція кровообігу та прискорення обміну речовин.…”