Effect of immediate and delayed cold water immersion after a high intensity exercise session on subsequent run performance

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of cold water immersion (CWI) performed immediately or 3 h after a high intensity interval exercise session (HIIS) on next-day exercise performance. Eight male athletes performed three HIIS at 90%VO 2max velocity followed by either a passive recovery (CON), CWI performed immediately post-exercise (CWI(0)) or CWI performed 3 h post-exercise (CWI(3)). Recovery trials were performed in a counter balanced manner. Participants then returned 24 h later and completed a muscle soreness and a totally quality recovery perception (TQRP) questionnaire, which was then followed by the Yoyo Intermittent Recovery Test [level 1] (YRT). Venous blood samples were collected pre-HIIS and pre-YRT to determine C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels. Significantly more shuttles were performed during the YRT following CWI(0) compared to the CON trial (p=0.017, ES = 0.8), while differences between the CWI(3) and the CON trials approached significance (p = 0.058, ES = 0.5). Performance on the YRT between the CWI(0) and CWI(3) trials were similar (p = 0.147, ES = 0.3). Qualitative analyses demonstrated a 98% and 92% likely beneficial effect of CWI(0) and CWI(3) on next day performance, compared to CON, respectively, while CWI(0) resulted in a 79% likely benefit when compared to CWI(3). CRP values were significantly lower pre-YRT, compared to baseline, following CWI(0) (p = 0.0.36) and CWI(3) (p = 0.045), but were similar for CON (p = 0.157). Muscle soreness scores were similar between trials (p = 1.10), while TQRP scores were significantly lower for CON compared to CWI(0) (p = 0.002 ) and CWI(3) (p = 0.024). Immediate CWI resulted in superior next-day YRT performance compared to CON, while delayed (3 h) CWI was also likely to be beneficial. Qualitative analyses suggested that CWI(0) resulted in better performance than CWI(3). These results are important for athletes who do not have immediate access to CWI following exercise.

Individual perception of recovery is related to subsequent sprint performance

“…CWI has also been demonstrated to improve run time to fatigue,40 return of function in dynamic power and isometric force5 and repeated running efforts 9 41. These observed positive effects of CWI are clearly multifaceted.…”

“…These observed positive effects of CWI are clearly multifaceted. The hydrostatic pressure applied during water immersion has been reported to displace fluids from the periphery to the central cavity resulting in a reduction in peripheral resistance and increase central blood volume23 and decrease inflammatory responses 40 41. However, the positive effects of CWI on subsequent performance cannot be solely attributed to hydrostatic pressure as researchers have demonstrated a positive effect of CWI over thermoneutral water immersion6 33.…”

Post-Exercise Cold Water Immersion on Sports Performance Recovery: A Review

“…CWI) is determined by the restoration of optimum sports performance. CWI has been reported as a significant recovery intervention including 5km run (Bosak et al, 2009), Yoyo intermittent recovery test (Level 1) (Brophy-Williams et al, 2011), cycling 4km time trial with restored cadence and average cycling power output (Peiffer et al, 2010), running distance covered during high intensity soccer match (Rowsell et al, 2011), and total work recovery on 35 minutes exercise bouts (Vaile et al, 2011).…”

“…Removal of blood lactate is important for anaerobic power recovery, however, many studies in CWI did not show its effect on removal of blood lactate (Halson et al, 2008;Rowsell et al, 2009;Parouty et al, 2010;Brophy-Williams et al, 2011;Pointon et al, 2012), and was even significantly less effective than active recovery (Vaile et al, 2008). Leeder et al (2013) completed a meta-analysis on CWI recovery after strenuous exercise.…”

Noninvasive assessment of muscle temperature during rest, exercise, and postexercise recovery in different environments

“…Indeed, data obtained from the iDISK can be used to evaluate postexercise recovery interventions, such as active (43) and passive (45) recovery, compression garments (33), and hot, cold, or "contrast" water immersion (21,33,45,47). While the effectiveness of these interventions has been generally linked with local tissue temperature (4,39,46), no actual Tm data have been obtained thus far, except in a recent study by Mawhinney and colleagues (34), mainly due to the technique's invasiveness and the technical expertise required (39). The iDISK technique may be proven valuable in these situations and can be used to refine postexercise recovery interventions to optimize recovery from training and improve performance.…”