Cold-Water Immersion Does Not Accelerate Performance Recovery After 10-km Street Run: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

ABSTRACT

The use of strategies to assure better post-effort recovery is frequent in sports settings. There are several interventions available for exercise induced muscle damage recovery, but cold-water immersion (CWI) stands out among them. The effects of CWI are unclear in the literature and, although the number of street runners has been growing, there is a gap in the scientific evidence regarding the use of CWI to recover runners’ performance after a 10-km street run. Purpose: The goal of our study was to analyze the effects of CWI on the recovery of muscle damage markers after a 10-km street run. Method: We randomly assigned thirty male recreational street runners, immediately after a 10-km street run, into three recovery groups: control (rest for 10 minutes), immersion (10 min immersed in water without ice at room temperature) and CWI (10 min immersed in water with ice at 10ºC). We assessed pain, triple hop distance, extensor peak torque and blood creatine kinase levels pre- and post-run, post-intervention and 24 hours after the run. Results: The 10-km run was enough to decrease triple hop distance and extensor peak torque, and increase levels of creatine kinase (p < 0.05); however, we found no time/group interactions in any of the assessed variables after we applied the appropriate interventions (p > 0.05). Conclusion: 10-min CWI at 10°C was no more effective than water immersion and rest in recovering muscle damage markers after 10-km runs.

KEYWORDS:

• Athletic performance
• muscle pain
• biological markers
• cryotherapy

Acknowledgments

All authors contributed to the conception and design of this study and they approved the final version.

Ethics Committee number 1.441.252; Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Appreciation: 51838815.6.0000.5537.

What Does This Article Add?

CWI has been widely used when the objective is to return performance to normal levels after exercise induced muscle damage. This was the first study to assess the effect of CWI after 10-km street runs and compare the use of CWI with both immersion in water at room temperature and rest.

Regardless of any potential physiological roles, it is important for coaches and sport scientists alike to educate their athletes on the benefits of recovery and also encourage beliefs in the intervention. This is particularly pertinent for athletes more responsive to the placebo effect, since it is well documented that some individuals show remarkable responses to placebo interventions whereas others may not respond at all. A strong belief in CWI, combined with any potential physiological benefits, will maximize its worth in recovery from exercise (Broatch et al., 2014).

Despite the widespread use of CWI for recovery in the clinical practice, literature remains controversial regarding performance recovery after induced muscle damage. Moreover, conclusions about its effectiveness, for these outcomes are still unclear, mainly due to methodological limitations. We believe our study provides new contributions in this aspect, especially in this specific sport modality.