Effects of cold water immersion after exercise on fatigue recovery and exercise performance--meta analysis

Abstract

Cold water immersion (CWI) is very popular as a method reducing post-exercise muscle stiffness, eliminating fatigue, decreasing exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD), and recovering sports performance. However, there are conflicting opinions as to whether CWI functions positively or negatively. The mechanisms of CWI are still not clear. In this systematic review, we used meta-analysis aims to examine the effect of CWI on fatigue recovery after high-intensity exercise and exercise performance. A total of 20 studies were retrieved and included from PubMed, PEDro and Elsevier databases in this review. Publication years of articles ranged from 2002 to 2022. In selected studies including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and Crossover design (COD). Analyses of subjective indicators such as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and objective indicators such as countermovement jump (CMJ) and blood plasma markers including creatine kinase(CK), lactate/lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), C-reactive protein(CRP), and IL-6 were performed. Pooled data showed as follows: CWI resulted in a significant decline in subjective characteristics (delayed-onset muscle soreness and perceived exertion at 0 h); CWI reduced countermovement jump(CMJ) significantly at 0 h, creatine kinase(CK) was lowered at 24 h, and lactate at 24 and 48 h. There was no evidence that CWI affects C-reactive protein(CRP) and IL-6 during a 48-h recovery period. Subgroup analysis revealed that different CWI sites and water temperatures have no effect on post-exercise fatigue recovery. Recommended athletes immersed in cold water immediately after exercise, which can effectively reduce muscle soreness and accelerate fatigue recovery.

Support Your Recovery Needs (SYRN) – a systemic approach to improve sport performance

“…Acute recovery focuses on rapidly restoring physiological homeostasis, such as reducing core body temperature, replenishing glycogen stores, and clearing metabolic waste products [33]. For reduced inflammation and muscle damage immediate interventions, such as coldwater immersion, can attenuate exercise-induced inflammation and minimize muscle damage, thereby promoting faster recovery [81]. Acute recovery can enhance athletes' perception of readiness and confidence for the next session, leading to improved motivation and performance [45,50].…”

Throwing cold water on muscle growth: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of the effects of postexercise cold water immersion on resistance training‐induced hypertrophy

“…Practitioners employ a variety of strategies to attenuate the fatigue and discomfort of resistance training (RT) or physical competition, or in an attempt to improve performance‐defined measures of recovery. Of these strategies, extreme temperature exposure in various forms (e.g., sauna, cold and hot water immersion, cryotherapy, and phase‐change material) have been found to reduce the severity of muscle soreness (Crystal et al., 2013), perceived fatigue (Wang et al., 2021; Xiao et al., 2023), and time to recovery (Roberts et al., 2014). Notably, despite the target of cold therapy often‐cited as being a reduction of acute postexercise inflammation (McPhee & Lightfoot, 2017; Thorpe, 2021), there is some evidence that cold therapy may not actually reduce biological markers of inflammation to a greater extent than low‐intensity cycling (Peake et al., 2017) nor improve recovery from eccentric exercise‐induced muscle damage (Tseng et al., 2013).…”

“…Of these strategies, extreme temperature exposure in various forms (e.g., sauna, cold and hot water immersion, cryotherapy, and phasechange material) have been found to reduce the severity of muscle soreness (Crystal et al, 2013), perceived fatigue (Wang et al, 2021;Xiao et al, 2023), and time to recovery (Roberts et al, 2014).…”

“…Notably, despite the target of cold therapy often‐cited as being a reduction of acute postexercise inflammation (McPhee & Lightfoot, 2017; Thorpe, 2021), there is some evidence that cold therapy may not actually reduce biological markers of inflammation to a greater extent than low‐intensity cycling (Peake et al., 2017) nor improve recovery from eccentric exercise‐induced muscle damage (Tseng et al., 2013). Of the various cold therapy strategies, cold water immersion (CWI), generally practiced by immersing the torso and limbs or individual limbs in water of <15 o C for 10–20 min following an exercise bout (Broatch et al., 2018), has been found to improve recovery for certain types of subsequent athletic or training performance (Broatch et al., 2018; Versey et al., 2013; Xiao et al., 2023) though perhaps not all (Xiao et al., 2023). Based on recent meta‐analytic work, the application of CWI after a bout of high‐intensity exercise may confer a positive effect on various recovery‐related outcomes (Moore et al., 2022).…”

A Study on Blood Lactate Removal Among the Football Players

“…They Gervasi et al (2023) concluded that a short durational (15s) passive recovery allows better restoration of performance capacity in between maximal sprints. Another interesting study Xiao et al (2023) showed that active recovery can also be effective for the swimmers. In that study 9 elite swimmers performed (8 x 25m) sprints with 45s recovery, followed by a 50m sprint later.…”