Abstract
Background: We investigated whether a brief cold water immersion between two cycling time trials (TT) improves the performance of the latter compared with passive and active recovery in normothermic conditions (~20°C).Methods: In Experiment 1 10 active participants (4 women) completed two 4-km TT (Ex1 and Ex2, each preceded by a 12 min moderate-intensity warm-up) separated by a 15 min recovery period consisting of: (a) passive rest (PAS) or (b) 5 min cold water immersion at 8°C (CWI-5). In Experiment 2, 13 different active males completed the same Ex1 and Ex2 bouts separated by a 15 min recovery consisting of: (a) PAS, (b) 10 min cold water immersion at 8°C (CWI-10) or (c) 15 min of moderate-intensity active recovery (ACT).Results: In both experiments, the time to complete the 4-km TT-s was not different (P > 0.05, ES = 0.1) among the trials neither in Ex1 (Experiment 1: PAS: 414 ± 39 s; CWI-5: 410 ± 39 s; Experiment 2: PAS: 402 ± 41 s; CWI-10: 404 ± 43 s; ACT: 407 ± 41 s) nor Ex2 (Experiment 1: PAS: 432 ± 43 s; CWI-5: 428 ± 47 s; Experiment 2: PAS: 418 ± 52 s; CWI-10: 416 ± 57 s; ACT: 421 ± 50 s). In addition, in all conditions, the time to complete the time trials was longer (P < 0.05, ES = 0.4) in Ex2 than Ex1. Core temperature was lower (P < 0.05) during the majority of Ex2 after CW-5 compared with passive rest (Experiment 1) and after CWI-10 compared with PAS and ACT (Experiment 2). Perceived exertion was also lower (P < 0.05) at mid-point of Ex2 after CWI-5 compared with PAS (Experiment 1) as well as overall lower during the CWI-10 compared with PAS and ACT conditions (Experiment 2).Conclusion: A post-exercise 5–10 min cold water immersion does not influence subsequent 4-km TT performance in normothermia, despite evoking reductions in thermal strain.
Highlights
In a variety of sporting events such as track cycling or athletic events, participants are often required to compete more than once on the same day during competitions
Core temperature was lower (P < 0.05) during the majority of Ex2 after CW-5 compared with passive rest (Experiment 1) and after Cold water immersion (CWI)-10 compared with PAS and active recovery (ACT) (Experiment 2)
Perceived exertion was lower (P < 0.05) at mid-point of Ex2 after CWI-5 compared with PAS (Experiment 1) as well as overall lower during the CWI-10 compared with PAS and ACT conditions (Experiment 2)
Summary
In a variety of sporting events such as track cycling or athletic events, participants are often required to compete more than once on the same day during competitions. In track cycling, where events range from a 200 m flying sprint (lasting ∼10s) to the 50 km points race (lasting ∼1 h), cyclists often compete more than once per day, such as in the Omnium, a multi-race event, typically comprising of four different races held on the same day, having at times
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