Research

Cold Water Immersion

Cold water immersion has been used extensively over the past few years for recovery by athletes.  Many athletes have used cold water recovery for many reasons, not the least of which is that if that athlete is doing it, I need to be doing it also!  Not the best reason, but with this recovery strategy, I would have to say that you have been doing the correct recovery!

There have been numerous research studies completed over the past few years.  I will try to list as many as I can below so that you can be better informed about what you are doing and what you should be doing. 

The bottom-line with the research is that cold water immersion is effective, although the effects are very individual.  As well, the exact deleterious mechanism that is minimized by cold-water immersion has not been determined.  As you can see in many of the research papers, lactate removal is enhanced and subsequent performances are improved.

The Applied Muscle Physiology Lab at the University of Calgary is undertaking presently research to determine if the mechanism is related to low-frequency fatigue.  We feel that this may be one of the key mechanisms that allow subsequent performances to be at a similar level to the first performance.  I will publish our results here as soon as they are out!

Contrast baths (cold & warm water with approximately 60 seconds of cold and 120 seconds of warm) have been used extensively by the Russians for many years.  This has also been shown to be effective.

Recommendations:

1. Cold water immersion could enhance your next workout or athletic endeavor by decreasing muscular fatigue and enhancing recovery. It will not affect negatively your subsequent athletic endeavors or workouts, so get that tub and start immersing yourself! 
2. Contrast baths (cold & warm) may also aid in recovery. 
3. The ideal temperature has not been determined yet, but some research has suggested 6-8⁰ C. has been recommended by some researchers, as has 12-15⁰ C. My recommendation would be somewhere around 10-12⁰ C. 
4. The ideal length of time for immersion in cold water has been shown to be approximately 10 minutes, but 5 minutes is better than none. 
5. Active recovery after you exercise, plus cold water-immersion may enhance recovery more than either mode on it’s own.
6. Hot baths (the ‘hot tub’ recovery method) may actually affect your recovery adversely, so avoid the hot tub after you exercise! 

Research Papers (Note – this is by no means an exhaustive list):

Bailey, D. M., Erith, S. J., Griffin, P. J., Dowson, A., Brewer, D. S., Gant, N. & Williams, C. (2007). Influence of cold-water immersion on indices of muscle damage following prolonged intermittent shuttle Barnett A. (2006). Using recovery modalities between training sessions in elite athletes: does it help?. Sports Medicine. 36(9):781-96, 2006. 

Crowe MJ., O'Connor D., & Rudd D. (2007). Cold water recovery reduces anaerobic performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine.  28(12):994-8, Dec.

Duffield R. (2008) Cooling interventions for the protection and recovery of exercise performance from exercise-induced heat stress.  Medicine & Sport Science.  53:89-103. Review article.

Eston, R. & Peters, D. (1999). Effects of cold water immersion on the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17 (3), 231-238.

Goosey-Tolfrey V.  et al (2008). The effectiveness of hand cooling at reducing exercise-induced hyperthermia and improving distance-race performance in wheelchair and able-bodied athletes. Journal of Applied Physiology.  105(1):37-43, 2008 Jul.

Hayashi K. et al (2004). Effects of brief leg cooling after moderate exercise on cardiorespiratory responses to subsequent exercise in the heat. European Journal of Applied Physiology.  92(4-5):414-20, Aug.

Howatson G.,Goodall S. & ,van Someren KA. (2009) The influence of cold water immersions on adaptation following a single bout of damaging exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology.  105(4):615-21,Mar.  

Jakeman, J. R., Macrae, R. & Eston, R. (2009). A single 10-min bout of cold-water immersion therapy after strenuous plyometric exercise has no beneficial effect on recovery from the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage. Ergonomics, 52 (4), 456-460.

Mantoni, T., Rasmussen, J. H., Belhage, B. & Pott, F. C. (2008). Voluntary Respiratory Control and Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity upon Ice-Water Immersion. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 79 (8), 765-768.

Montgomery PG.  et al. (2008) The effect of recovery strategies on physical performance and cumulative fatigue in competitive basketball. Journal of Sports Sciences.  26(11):1135-45, Sep. 

Montgomery, P. G., et al. (2008). Muscle damage, inflammation, and recovery interventions during a 3-day basketball tournament. European Journal of Sport Science, 8 (5), 241-250

Morton RH. (2007). Contrast water immersion hastens plasma lactate decrease after intense anaerobic exercise. Journal of Science & Medicine in Sport. 10(6):467-70, Dec.

Paddon-Jones, D J.  Quigley, B M. (1997). Effect of cryotherapy on muscle soreness and strength following eccentric exercise.  International Journal of Sports Medicine. 18(8):588-93, Nov. 

Peake J. et al (2008). Body temperature and its effect on leukocyte mobilization, cytokines and markers of neutrophil activation during and after exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology.  102(4):391-401, Mar. Research Support,

 Ramanauskiene I. et al (2008). Influence of heating and cooling on muscle fatigue and recovery. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania).  44(9):687-93, 2008. 

Rowsell, Greg J., Coutts, Aaron J., Reaburn, Peter & Hill-Haas, Stephen (2009). Effects of cold-water immersion on physical performance between successive matches in high-performance junior male soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27 (6), 565-573. 

Scott, C. G., Ducharme, M. B., Haman, F. & Kenny, G. P. (2004). Warming by Immersion or Exercise Affects Initial Cooling Rate during Subsequent Cold Water Immersion. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 75 (11), 956-963.

Sellwood KL. Et al (2007). Ice-water immersion and delayed-onset muscle soreness: a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine.  41(6):392-7, Jun.

Vaile J. et al (2008). Effect of hydrotherapy on the signs and symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness.[erratum appears in Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 May;103(1):121-2].  European Journal of Applied Physiology.  102(4):447-55, Mar.

Vaile, J., Halson, S., Gill, N. & Dawson, B. (2008). Effect of Cold Water Immersion on Repeat Cycling Performance and Thermoregulation in the Heat. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26 (5), 431-440.

Yanagisawa O. et al (2004). Magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of cooling on blood flow and oedema in skeletal muscles after exercise.

European Journal of Applied Physiology.  91(5-6):737-40, 2004 May. 

Young, A.J., Muza, S.R., Sawka, M.N., Gonzalez, R.R. & Pandolf, K.B. (1986). Human Thermoregulatory Responses to Cold Air Are Altered by Repeated Cold Water Immersion. Journal of Applied Physiology, 60 (5), 1542-1548.


 

Prepared by:

Shane Esau - BSc, MKin

Human Performance Lab, University of Calgary