Effects of Chronic Cold-Water Immersion in Elite Rugby Players
Tavares F, Beaven M, Teles J, Baker D, Healey P, Smith TB, Driller M
International journal of sports physiology and performance · 23 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2018-06-28 · Int J Sports Physiol Perform · vol. 14 · issue 2 · pp. 156–162
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Cited
- 34 citations · more than 87% of similar papers · 2.1× the field average
- References
- 30 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Exercise and Physiological Responses · Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- Elite, Immersion (mathematics), Water polo, Psychology, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Physical therapy, Mathematics, Medicine, Geometry
- MeSH
- humans, fatigue, immersion, football, male, cold temperature, young adult, athletes, myalgia
7 authors
From NZ, PT
- Francisco Tavares · correspondingUniversity of Waikato
- C. Martyn BeavenUniversity of Waikato
- Júlia Maria Vitorino TelesUniversity of Lisbon; Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo da Performance Humana
- Dane Baker
- Phil Healey
- Tiaki Brett SmithUniversity of Waikato
Abstract
Purpose
Although the acute effects of cold-water immersion (CWI) have been widely investigated, research analyzing the effects of CWI over a chronic period in highly trained athletes is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CWI during an intense 3-wk preseason phase in elite rugby athletes.
Methods
A total of 23 elite male rugby union athletes were randomized to either CWI (10 min at 10°C, n = 10) or a passive recovery control (CON, n = 13) during 3 wk of high-volume training. Athletes were exposed to either CWI or CON after each training day (12 d in total). Running loads, conditioning, and gym sessions were kept the same between groups. Measures of countermovement jump, perceived muscle soreness, and wellness were obtained twice a week, and saliva samples for determining cortisol and interleukin-6 were collected once per week.
Results
Although no significant differences were observed between CWI and CON for any measure, CWI resulted in lower fatigue markers throughout the study as demonstrated by the moderate effects on muscle soreness (d = 0.58-0.91) and interleukin-6 (d = -0.83) and the small effects (d = 0.23-0.38) on countermovement jump in comparison with CON.
Conclusions
CWI may provide some beneficial effect by reducing fatigue and soreness during an intense 3-wk training phase in elite rugby athletes.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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