Abstract

Background: Youth athletes experience high-intensity physical and mental stress during a competitive season. In athlete populations, accumulated stress and strain have been associated with contributing to levels of fatigue that decrease athletic performance. While deliberate heat and cold exposure have been prevalent to aid recovery, there is a lack of conclusive literature regarding the specific implementation, periodisation, and monitoring for optimal recovery in youth athletes. Objective: This study aimed to investigate external physical (lower-body muscular power), internal physical (rating of perceived exertion) and psychological (profile of mood states) outcome measures during a 12-week competitive first XV rugby season to determine the effectiveness of a deliberate heat and cold exposure intervention. Methods: A single-group repeated measure within-subjects design was performed with 29 male first XV rugby athletes (mean age 17.6 ± 0.6 years; mean body weight 87.5 ± 9.7 kg; mean height 182.2 ± 6.2 cm) who volunteered for this study. Countermovement jump (CMJ), rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and profile of mood states (POMS) were recorded every fortnight over a 12-week competition. A total of two separate deliberate cold exposures (5°C for 5-minutes) and one deliberate heat exposure (100°C for 15-minutes) were administered weekly over the 12-week competitive season. Results: CMJ peak power (p = 0.759) and mean CMJ concentric power (p = 0.712) revealed no significant time effect. RPE presented a significant time effect (p 0.001). Among the ten POMS domains examined, eight domains did not show a significant time effect (p 0.05). However, the domains related to feeling sore or fatigued (p = 0.032) and excitement about competition (p 0.001) displayed significant time effects. Conclusion: The recovery intervention of two cold and one heat exposures did not directly improve changes in CMJ power or psychological states; however physical and psychological performance was maintained. Further research is necessary to understand the duration and frequency of using recovery strategies to improve the long-term effectiveness of young athletes.

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