Water immersion methods do not alter muscle damage and inflammation biomarkers after high-intensity sprinting and jumping exercise

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of three water immersion interventions performed after active recovery compared to active recovery only on the resolution of inflammation and markers of muscle damage post-exercise. Methods Nine physically active men (n = 9; age 20-35 years) performed an intensive loading protocol, including maximal jumps and sprinting on four occasions. After each trial, one of three recovery interventions (10 min duration) was used in a random order: cold-water immersion (CWI, 10 °C), thermoneutral water immersion (TWI, 24 °C), contrast water therapy (CWT, alternately 10 °C and 38 °C). All of these methods were performed after an active recovery (10 min bicycle ergometer), and were compared to active recovery only (ACT). 5 min, 1, 24, 48, and 96 h after exercise bouts, immune response and recovery were assessed through leukocyte subsets, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, myoglobin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentrations. Results Significant changes in all blood markers occurred at post-loading (p < 0.05), but there were no significant differences observed in the recovery between methods. However, retrospective analysis revealed significant trial-order effects for myoglobin and neutrophils (p < 0.01). Only lymphocytes displayed satisfactory reliability in the exercise response, with intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.5. Conclusions The recovery methods did not affect the resolution of inflammatory and immune responses after high-intensity sprinting and jumping exercise. It is notable that the biomarker responses were variable within individuals. Thus, the lack of differences between recovery methods may have been influenced by the reliability of exercise-induced biomarker responses. Keywords Cold-water immersion • Thermoneutral water immersion • Contrast water therapy • Recovery • Inflammation Abbreviations ACT Active recovery only CK Creatine kinase activity COR Serum cortisol CWT Contrast water therapy CWI Cold-water immersion hsCRP High-sensitivity C-reactive protein MCP-1 Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 TWI Thermoneutral water immersion WBC Leukocytes

Modulation of Leukocyte Subsets Mobilization in Response to Exercise by Water Immersion Recovery

“…In contrast to these investigations, de Andrade Bezerra et al (2014) found no effect of recovery by cold-water immersion (10 °C, 10 min, immersion to the iliac crest level) on leukocyte count, after a soccer match. Also, no effect was found for leukocyte counts, C-reactive protein and markers of muscular damage after cold-or thermoneutral-water (24 °C) immersion following a high-intensity sprint and jumping exercise protocol and active recovery Ahokas et al (2020). Again, the leukocyte response to the exercise stress in the cited studies is qualitatively different from ours (both Ahokas et al, 2020 andde Andrade Bezerra et al, 2014) observed lymphopenia after exercise), and this leads us to argue whether the effect of water immersion on leukocytes is dependent on the dynamics of the leukocyte response to the exercise.…”

“…Also, no effect was found for leukocyte counts, C-reactive protein and markers of muscular damage after cold-or thermoneutral-water (24 °C) immersion following a high-intensity sprint and jumping exercise protocol and active recovery Ahokas et al (2020). Again, the leukocyte response to the exercise stress in the cited studies is qualitatively different from ours (both Ahokas et al, 2020 andde Andrade Bezerra et al, 2014) observed lymphopenia after exercise), and this leads us to argue whether the effect of water immersion on leukocytes is dependent on the dynamics of the leukocyte response to the exercise. In our study, we did not observe effects of cold-or thermoneutral-water immersion on leukocyte counts, although both water temperatures, beyond 38 °C modified the composition of lymphocyte and monocyte subsets after the experimental exercise.…”

“…With the aim to accelerate exercise recovery, many strategies are employed by athletes, recreational exercisers, and the general population. Water immersion, specifically at cold temperatures ( 20°C), is one of the most popular methods used to improve post exercise recovery ( Versey, Halson and Dawson, 2013 ; Dupuy et al, 2018 ; Ahokas et al, 2020 ), although immersion protocols vary in terms of water temperature (hot water, 36°C; thermoneutral water, 21–35°C) ( Craig and Dvorak, 1966 ) and depth, immersion duration, and frequency.…”

Athlete, coach and practitioner knowledge and perceptions of post-exercise cold-water immersion for recovery: a qualitative and quantitative exploration

“…Belief stems from positive reductions in secondary cell injury and/or reducing inflammation following injury in animal models [59]. However, whilst some research shows post-exercise CWI might positively influence some markers of inflammation post-exercise [60,61], there remains a substantial contrasting volume of research showing a neutral effect, whereby CWI has no influence in moderating the post-exercise inflammatory response [15,[62][63][64][65][66]. This is supported further by cellular and molecular investigations [58].…”

“…The most reported mechanisms associated with benefits of CWI were cardiovascular alterations in blood flow and constriction of blood vessels. To date, a significant amount of work has demonstrated reduced limb blood flow, or reduced blood volume, across the exercised muscle following CWI [47,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]. However, more recent data [71] employing positron emission tomography (PET) with an oxygen-15-labelled water radiotracer ([ 15 O]H 2 O) suggests that application of noxious water temperatures (< 8 °C) may actually result in less pronounced reductions in muscle perfusion compared with less noxious (15 °C) immersion (under resting conditions).…”