Comparison of different cryotherapy recovery methods in elite junior cyclists

Abstract

Background/objective: Cold water immersion (CWI) and active recovery treatment (ACT) are commonly used recovery treatments for athletes between exercise bouts, but they are sometimes limited by space and availability of equipment in training and competition venues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether cold compression therapy (CCT) would provide the same effect as CWI and ACT as an alternative option in a hot environment.

Methods: Eight elite male junior cyclists (age, 15.5 ± 1.2 years; height, 167.7 ± 3.3 cm; body mass, 57.3 ± 3.5 kg; peak oxygen uptake, 64.7 ± 4.3 mL/kg/min) completed a maximal cycling test to determine their peak power output (PPO) and oxygen uptake. Then they completed three tests using randomised recovery protocol of CWI, CCT and ACT for 15 minutes. Each test consisted of two 35-minute exercise bouts, with 5 minutes of warm-up, 15 minutes of cycling at 75% PPO and 15 minutes maximal trial. The two exercise bouts were separated by 60 minutes (5 minutes cool-down, 10 minutes preparation for recovery treatment, 15 minutes recovery treatment, and 30 minutes passive recovery).

Results: There was no significant difference between average power output, blood lactate, rating of perceived exertion, and heart rate for two time-trial bouts for all recovery treatments. A significant decrease in core temperature was noted prior to the start of the second exercise bout for CWI.

Conclusion: CCT, CWI and ACT are all useful recovery treatments between exercise bouts.

Keywords: cryotherapy; immersion; intermittent pneumatic compression device.

Figure 1

Timeline for the two 35-minute exercise bouts. Each bout of exercise (E1 and E2) included 5 minutes of warm-up, followed by 15 minutes of cycling at 75% peak power output (PPO) and 15 minutes’ time trial (TT) in heat at maximal effort. There was a 60-minute rest period between E1 and E2, which included 5 minutes of cool-down at 40% PPO, 10 minutes of preparation for treatment, 15 minutes of recovery treatments, and 30 minutes of passive recovery in heat. ACT = active recovery treatment; CCT = cold compression therapy; CWI = cold water immersion.

Figure 2

Core body temperature measured immediately before two exercise bouts (E1 pre, E2 pre), during warm-up (E1 warm-up, E2 warm-up), during the two 15-minute time-trial bouts (E1 TT, E2 TT), immediately after two exercise bouts (E1 post, E2 post), and 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes after recovery treatments (post-treatment 5′, 10′, 15′). * Significant difference between CWI and CCT, p < 0.05. ** Significant difference between CWI and ACT, p < 0.05. ACT = active recovery treatment; CCT = cold compression therapy; CWI = cold water immersion.

Figure 3

Blood lactate measured immediately before two exercise bouts (E1 pre, E2 pre), immediately after warm-up (E1 warm-up, E2 warm-up), immediately after 75% PPO bouts (E1 75%, E2 75%), immediately after two maximum time-trial bouts (E1 TT, E2 TT), and immediately before (Pretreatment) and after (Post-treatment) the recovery treatments. ACT = active recovery treatment; CCT = cold compression therapy; CWI = cold water immersion.