Exercise after cryotherapy greatly enhances intramuscular rewarming

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of moderate-intensity walking on rewarming of the triceps surae muscle group after a 20-minute application of a crushed-ice pack.

Design and setting: Subjects were randomly assigned to either the ice-rest or the ice-exercise group. All subjects were treated on the left calf for 20 minutes with a 1.8-kg ice pack. The ice-exercise group walked on a treadmill at 5.63 km/h for 10 minutes and then assumed a prone position on an examining table for 20 minutes. The ice-rest group assumed a prone position on an examining table for 30 minutes after the cryotherapy treatment.

Subjects: Twenty-eight (19 men and 9 women) college-student volunteers.

Measurements: Intramuscular temperature was recorded at 10-second intervals for 50 minutes at 1 cm below the subcutaneous fat with a thermocouple implanted via a 21-gauge sterile hypodermic needle. Differences were analyzed within and between groups at pretreatment (T(0)), the end of the ice treatment (T(20)), 11 minutes after the end of ice treatment (T(31)), and 30 minutes posttreatment (T(50)).

Results: We found no differences at T(0) and T(20) but significant differences at T(31) and T(50). At T(31), the ice-exercise group was only 0.61 degrees C colder than at pretreatment levels, while the ice-rest group was 8.05 degrees C colder. By T(50), the temperatures were 0.93 degrees C and 6.95 degrees C colder, respectively, than at pretreatment levels.

Conclusion: Moderate walking significantly enhanced rewarming of the triceps surae.