A randomized controlled experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of hydrostatic pressure with cold-water immersion at strenuous levels of exercise on indicators of damage and recovery. Twenty-four males subjects of the ages 23 to 27 with body masses between 81.4 to 90.1 kg, and Vo2maxx between 57.5 to 62.4 ml/kg/min. All 24 subjects were well-trained game players of different sports that required some sort of sprinting. Each subject completed the Loughborough Intermitten Shuttle Test (LIST).
LIST is a test that is controlled by measurements. LIST consisted of five sets of fifteen minutes of activity that has different levels of intensities to stimulate sports played by the subjects. The LIST activities consisted of walking, running, and sprinting. The type of player’s physical abilities were simulated in a sport setting to measure the effects of seated and standing cold-water immersion on recovery. Each subject was randomly assigned to the control groups consisting of standing or sitting cold-water immersion at different intervals around for 14 min at a temperature of 14 degrees Celsius.
After LIST was conducted there were physiological signs of stress and damage to the muscles, which provided a good measure for the seated and standing cold-water immersion. Up to 72 hours following LIST all 24 subjects were measured to record the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) to find out if cold water immersion has any benefits in speeding up recovery.
It was found the seated cold-water immersion was able to DOMS while standing cold-water immersion did not prove to be a faster recovery of DOMS when comparing both groups. The benefit of cold-water immersion was thought to aid reduction of inflammation, which aids in the recovery of muscles. Being able to change the hydrostatic pressure by standing and sitting did not prove to reduce any indicators of LIST induced muscle damage in the cold-water immersion. Also, it did not speed up the process of exercise induced muscle recovery.
Leeder JD, Someren KA, Bell PG, et al. Effects of seated and standing cold water immersion on recovery from repeated sprinting. J Sports Sci. 2015;33(15). doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.9969
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