Ice Water Immersion as an Additional Method in Physiology Recovery in the Sport

Jair Burboa,Felipe Godoy,María Soledad Riquelme,Jaime Hinzpeter,Maximiliano Barahona,Eugenia Vivar,Alvaro Zamorano,Nasim Habibzadeh

doi:10.14302/issn.2578-8590.ipj-18-2465

Abstract

Objective: Soccer has a reduced overall recovery time. If these situations are not properly controlled they can cause the athlete chronic fatigue, an increase in delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and thus result in a decrease in athletic performance. There are several therapies that have attempted to improve athletic performance, decrease the percentage of injuries and results in soccer. Training and recovery instances are opportunities to find ways to address this issue. Understanding the physiology of recovery is essential to accelerate some processes, with the aim of shortening the times. Subjects: Cryotherapy could improve functional performance tests and decrease pain in soccer players. Our work design is an experimental prospective study. Method: Twenty subjects (10 experimental subjects and 10 control group subjects), between the ages of 17 and 23, who are members of a university men's soccer team, participated in the study. The following variables were controlled: power; the number of jumps, the average height of a jump in a 30-second continuous jump test, and DOMS perception through visual analog scale (VAS). Both groups shall be subjected to a more active recovery as well as elongation carried out by the coaching staff. In addition to this, the experimental group shall also be subjected to ice baths (42-47 °F) for three minutes. Results: We found significant statistical differences in the number of jumps and the power of the same in the control group, thus obtaining improvements. No significant differences were observed in either group for the average jump height and percentage yield variables. In the assessment of DOMS significant differences were observed, with a lower perception of DOMS seen in the experimental group. Conclusion: Ice baths provide favorable results in some aspects of the 30-second continuous jump test, decreasing the perception of leg pain and fatigue, and therefore they can be considered a valid alternative in the management of these athletes.

Highlights

Soccer is considered an acyclic sport, with intermittent motion characteristics, open skills and highly complex when compared to others
In the assessment of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) significant differences were observed, with a lower perception of DOMS seen in the experimental group
When estimating the data normality results in each group that was studied in the average height variable, it can be seen that the data of one of the groups examined in this variable was significant (p

Summary

Introduction

Soccer is considered an acyclic sport, with intermittent motion characteristics, open skills and highly complex when compared to others. It has a high endurance component, with variations in the intensity, and incomplete recuperation periods within a game[16]. Soccer workouts are performed on a daily basis, with regular competitions and short recovery times. This entails that the athletes are under constant risk of fatigue and an increase in delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS)[1]. When reviewing the literature that supports the use of Cryotherapy, we found that few studies have successfully related variables such as performance parameters, types of exercises and intensity of the same, water temperature, duration, and depth of the bath, recovery time and the subsequent effects on the performance of the athlete[24]

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Conclusion