Post-exercise Cold Water Immersion Effects on Physiological Adaptations to Resistance Training and the Underlying Mechanisms in Skeletal Muscle: A Narrative Review.

Aaron C Petersen,Jackson J Fyfe

doi:10.3389/fspor.2021.660291

Aaron C Petersen, Jackson J Fyfe

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.660291

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Abstract

Post-exercise cold-water immersion (CWI) is a popular recovery modality aimed at minimizing fatigue and hastening recovery following exercise. In this regard, CWI has been shown to be beneficial for accelerating post-exercise recovery of various parameters including muscle strength, muscle soreness, inflammation, muscle damage, and perceptions of fatigue. Improved recovery following an exercise session facilitated by CWI is thought to enhance the quality and training load of subsequent training sessions, thereby providing a greater training stimulus for long-term physiological adaptations. However, studies investigating the long-term effects of repeated post-exercise CWI instead suggest CWI may attenuate physiological adaptations to exercise training in a mode-specific manner. Specifically, there is evidence post-exercise CWI can attenuate improvements in physiological adaptations to resistance training, including aspects of maximal strength, power, and skeletal muscle hypertrophy, without negatively influencing endurance training adaptations. Several studies have investigated the effects of CWI on the molecular responses to resistance exercise in an attempt to identify the mechanisms by which CWI attenuates physiological adaptations to resistance training. Although evidence is limited, it appears that CWI attenuates the activation of anabolic signaling pathways and the increase in muscle protein synthesis following acute and chronic resistance exercise, which may mediate the negative effects of CWI on long-term resistance training adaptations. There are, however, a number of methodological factors that must be considered when interpreting evidence for the effects of post-exercise CWI on physiological adaptations to resistance training and the potential underlying mechanisms. This review outlines and critiques the available evidence on the effects of CWI on long-term resistance training adaptations and the underlying molecular mechanisms in skeletal muscle, and suggests potential directions for future research to further elucidate the effects of CWI on resistance training adaptations.

Highlights

Cold water immersion (CWI) is a popular recovery strategy aimed at enhancing recovery from strenuous exercise
Application of cold-water immersion (CWI) has been associated with a number of short-term benefits related to post-exercise recovery [as reviewed in Versey et al (2013)], including a faster recovery of muscle strength (Skurvydas et al, 2006; Bailey et al, 2007; Vaile et al, 2008), muscle soreness (Bailey et al, 2007; Vaile et al, 2008; Ingram et al, 2009; Rowsell et al, 2011; Stanley et al, 2012), perception of fatigue (Parouty et al, 2010; Stacey et al, 2010; Rowsell et al, 2011; Stanley et al, 2012), and markers of inflammation (Montgomery et al, 2008; Peake et al, 2008; Stacey et al, 2010; Pournot et al, 2011) and muscle damage (Eston and Peters, 1999; Skurvydas et al, 2006) after strenuous exercise
Evidence of the short-term benefits of CWI is equivocal, with some studies finding no influence of CWI on various aspects of post-exercise recovery including muscle strength (Paddon-Jones and Quigley, 1997; Goodall and Howatson, 2008; Howatson et al, 2009; Jakeman et al, 2009; Peiffer et al, 2009), muscle soreness (Paddon-Jones and Quigley, 1997; Sellwood et al, 2007; Howatson et al, 2009; Jakeman et al, 2009), and markers of muscle damage (Eston and Peters, 1999; Bailey et al, 2007; Goodall and Howatson, 2008; Jakeman et al, 2009) and inflammation (Montgomery et al, 2008; Peake et al, 2008)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Cold water immersion (CWI) is a popular recovery strategy aimed at enhancing recovery from strenuous exercise. While the majority of studies performed to date have assessed the influence of CWI on macroscopic-level muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise, two studies (Roberts et al, 2015; Fyfe et al, 2019) have examined microscopiclevel hypertrophic responses Both studies showed that CWI attenuated the resistance training-induced increase in vastus lateralis type II muscle fiber area, with one study (Roberts et al, 2015) suggesting that combined type I and type II muscle fiber areas (which may have been driven by the change in type II muscle fiber area) were enhanced by resistance training only with an active post-recovery (low-intensity cycling), but not with CWI. Post-exercise CWI application may theoretically impair strength development with resistance training by interfering with the morphological contributors

Study design

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE

Findings

CONCLUSIONS