A single session of whole-body cryotherapy boosts maximal cycling performance and enhances vagal drive at rest
Storniolo JL, Chaulan M, Esposti R, Cavallari P
Experimental brain research · 2 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
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Università degli Studi di Milano
- University or hospital
- Laboratorio Analisi dell'Università degli Studi di Milano
- University or hospital
- Laboratorio Analisi dell'Università degli Studi di Milano
- Authors
- At least one author declares a financial tie to industry
- Grants
- Università degli Studi di Milano (TARIFFARIO09_CAVALLARI)
Based on 3 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2022-12-21 · Exp Brain Res · vol. 241 · issue 2 · pp. 383–393
- Publisher
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Cited
- 5 citations · more than 73% of similar papers · 0.8× the field average
- References
- 67 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control · Exercise and Physiological Responses · Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- Balance (ability), Cryotherapy, Analysis of variance, Medicine, Cardiology, Internal medicine, Vagus nerve, Physical therapy, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Anesthesia, Surgery, Stimulation
- MeSH
- vagus nerve, humans, exercise test, exercise, cryotherapy, heart rate, bicycling, adult
4 authors
From IT
- Jorge L. StornioloUniversity of Milan
- Marco Chaulan
- Roberto EspostiUniversity of Milan
- Paolo Cavallari · correspondingUniversity of Milan; Ospedale San Paolo
Abstract
Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) has been reported to maximize physical recovery after exercise and reduce the ensuing muscle damage. In addition, WBC triggers cardiovascular responses leading to an increased vagal drive. Here we tested whether WBC may boost exercise performance as well as post-exercise recovery. Moreover, we compared the effects of WBC and exercise on sympathovagal balance and tested whether these two factors may interact. ECG was recorded in 28 healthy adults who underwent rest, all-out effort on a cycloergometer, 5 min recovery and again rest. After 3-5 days, WBC (3 min exposure to - 150 °C air) was applied and the whole procedure repeated. Total exercise duration was split into the time needed to reach peak power output (tPEAK) and the time to exhaustion (tEXH). The post-exercise exponential decay of HR was characterized by its delay from exercise cessation (tDELAY) and by its time constant (τOFF). Sympathovagal balance was evaluated by measuring HR variability power in the low (LF) and high (HF) frequency bands, both before exercise and after recovery from it. Sympathetic vs. vagal predominance was assessed by the sympathovagal index LFnu. Paired t-tests indicated that WBC increased tEXH and reduced tDELAY, speeding up the HR recovery. These results suggest that WBC may be exploited to boost exercise performance by about 12-14%. ANOVA on HR variability confirmed that exercise shifted the sympathovagal balance towards sympathetic predominance, but it also highlighted that WBC enhanced vagal drive at rest, both before exercise and after full recovery, covering ~ 70% of the exercise effect.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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