Focal knee joint cooling increases the quadriceps central activation ratio

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 20-min focal knee joint cooling intervention on quadriceps central activation ratio (CAR) in healthy volunteers. A counterbalanced, cross-over study assessed the effects of a focal joint cooling intervention compared with a control condition 3–14 days apart. Eleven healthy volunteers (6 males, 5 females; age 25 ± 5 years; height 1.71 ± 0.1 m, mass 77 ± 21 kg) were included in the final analysis. The joint cooling intervention consisted of two 1.5-litre ice bags applied to the knee joint for 20 min, in one of two counterbalanced sessions, completed 3–14 days apart. In the control session, participants sat quietly between the baseline and 20-min measurements. Quadriceps CAR was assessed at 70° of knee flexion at four instants (baseline, 20, 30, and 45 min). There was a significant treatment × time interaction (F 3,30 = 5.9, P = 0.003) and post hoc analyses revealed that CAR was higher in the focal knee joint cooling session than the control session at 20 min (0.79 ± 0.12 vs. 0.70 ± 0.12; t 10 = 3.9, P = 0.003) and 45 min (0.77 ± 0.10 vs. 0.69 ± 0.12; t 10 = 3.1, P = 0.01). The CAR tended to be higher during the experimental session than the control session at 30 min (0.79 ± 0.13 vs. 0.74 ± 0.11; t 10 = 2.1, P = 0.07).Volitional activation increased following focal knee joint cooling in healthy volunteers.