Cryotherapy Reinvented: Application of Phase Change Material for Recovery in Elite Soccer

Abstract

word count: 244 19Manuscript word count: 3256 20 17.1%). MIVC also tended to be higher at 60 h post (P=0.051; ES=0.85; 95% CI= −0.4 to 37 11.1%). MS was 26.5% lower in PCM cold vs. PCM warm at 36 h (P=0.02; ES=1.7; 95% CI= 38 −50.4 mm to −16.1 mm) and 24.3% lower at 60 h (P=0.039; ES=1.1; 95% CI= −26.9 mm to 39 −0.874 mm). There were no between condition differences in post-match CMJ height or 40 BAM+ (P>0.05). The BFQ revealed that players felt the PCM cold was more effective than the 41 PCM amb after the intervention (P=0.004). 42Conclusions: PCM cooling garments provide a practical means of delivering prolonged post-43 exercise cooling and thereby accelerating recovery in elite soccer players. 44 45

Exploring the Efficacy of a Safe Cryotherapy Alternative: Physiological Temperature Changes From Cold-Water Immersion Versus Prolonged Cooling of Phase-Change Material

“…18 Since some degree of inflammation, which plays a crucial role in the remodeling and adaptation of skeletal muscle, is required for the resolution of muscle fiber damage resulting from an exercise insult. However, since the recovery benefits of CWI have been extensively studied, and preliminarily studies utilizing PCM cooling with durations between 3-6 h illustrate beneficial effects on recovery of strength, in addition to soreness, 7,8 the present results serve primarily to demonstrate the capacity of both CWI and PCM cooling to have local and systemic effects. The shorter overall CWI data collection period compared with PCM data collection complicated the comparisons between treatments.…”

“…The combined local and systemic effects likely explain the accelerated recovery from strenuous exercise that have recently been demonstrated with PCM cooling. 7,8 This study provides the first evidence that the application of this novel cooling modality, PCM, elicits comparable physiological effects to those from CWI treatment.…”

“…7 A 3 h PCM application after a professional soccer match also reduced pain and strength loss on subsequent days. 8 In these studies, 7,8 participant thermal comfort was maintained while PCM packs were worn inside compression shorts and maintained a constant temperature of 15°C for at least 3 h before melting.…”

Countermovement Jump Recovery in Professional Soccer Players Using an Inertial Sensor

“…larger study examining the effectiveness of a cryotherapy intervention on recovery in soccer 73 players. 20 The full data set has been published previously but the data from the inertial sensor 74…”

“…The full experimental protocol has been described in detail in the larger study 20 and is 95 summarized here. This was a randomized crossover design examining the effectiveness of a 96…”