Hello readers,
Well, this week we have been given the freedom to write on our own chosen topic, so I thought I would write briefly on a question that was brought to me by a youth football player in a team that I help coach. We had a local derby game during the week and our lads played a huge game, they ran themselves into the ground. But, it was during the warm-down and recovery session that I was asked if cold water, hot water or a mixture of both (contrast immersion) actually helped with recovery. Many young people (adults also) notice a lot of their favourite sports star sharing pictures or videos of themselves jumping in and out of ice baths and using similar water immersion tools. I had never questioned its use, simply adopting the thought that it must be beneficial if all these super-stars are using it. So I went hunting for the truth.
Many argue that cold water immersion has a positive effect on the recovery from high-intensity exercise, while contrast immersion had very little to no effect at all (Sánchez-Ureña, Barrantes-Brais, Ureña-Bonilla, Calleja-González, & Ostojic. 2015; Graham. 2017). Whilst an article released by Auckland University (2017) said: “Our study found ice baths are no more beneficial than a simple low-intensity warm-down at reducing inflammation and muscle damage after intense exercise”. It became obvious to me that there was a lot of information that was contradicting of previously read reports or studies, one report stating it helped, another saying it had no effect while others said it could be detrimental to the recovery process. That was until I read a report by Stephens, Halson, Miller, Slater, & Askew (2017), that found and listed what could be contributing factors in the results of water immersion. They concluded that there was no one-size-fits-all approach available and that many different contributing factors must be acknowledged and thought on before using this process as an aid in recovery. This struck home for me, it makes sense as every single person and their body is different to the next, why would it be different for athletes.
Even though I may not be able to give the young lad a definitive answer regarding the use of water immersion, I can thank him for reminding me that we should be questioning what we are told, or lead to believe, and then further educating ourselves with the answers we find.
References:
Graham, A. (2017). The effects of cold water immersion and cold water therapy on performance
recovery following high-intensity exercise: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal Of Australian Strength & Conditioning, 25(2), 59-65.
Sanchez-Ureña, B., Barrantes-Brais, K., Ureña-Bonilla, P., Calleja-González, J., & Ostojic, S.
(2015).Effect of water immersion on recovery from fatigue: A meta-analysis. Motricidad: European Journal Of Human Movement, 341-14.
Stephens, J. M., Halson, S., Miller, J., Slater, G. J., & Askew, C. D. (2017). Cold-water
immersion for athletic recovery: One size does not fit all. International Journal Of Sports Physiology & Performance, 12(1), 2-9.
The University of Auckland. (2017). Ice baths no good for muscle recovery. Retrieved from
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news-events-and-notices/news/news-2017/02/ice-baths-no-good-for-muscle-recovery.html
