The effectiveness of cold in the recovery post-exercise in kayak sprint

Abstract

Athletes in kayak sprint competitions often do several races successively with short time to recover. High performance training also involves daily training sessions with high volume and intensity. Cold is used in sports as a quick and easy recovery method therefore the current study's goal is to analyze the impact of a cooling vest in elite sprint kayakers’ recovery. Ten elite sprint kayakers (age, 21.63 ± 2.85 years; height, 177.9 ± 7.33 cm; body mass, 75.18 ± 7.33 kg) completed, in kayak ergometer, on two days apart the same protocol except for the active rest, in which, randomly, in one of them they used a cold vest. Each moment was performed in a room with controlled temperature (20.93 °C to 21.22 °C) and humidity (66.04% to 68.90%), consisting in 15 minutes of acclimatization, warm-up, 5 times 5 minutes (at 75% maximal average power (MAP) in 4 minutes test), 15 minutes of active rest at 40% MAP, 15 minutes of passive rest and finally a 500-m maximal test. On both moments it was determined, among others, the blood lactate concentration, the core temperature assessed by urine temperature and it was asked the rating of perceived exertion (Borg's RPE Scale) and recuperation (0 to 10 scale with 10 representing completely recovered). There was no significant difference between the 500 m maximal test in the two moments. However, the athlete's subjective perception of recovery was significantly higher with vest ( P < 0.01). The blood lactate concentration was significantly lower after the active recovery using the cold vest ( P < 0.05) as well as core temperature, 15 minutes after the active rest ( P < 0.05). Results suggest that the use of a cooling vest during active rest after training or competition can improve recovery. It has interest to test it in on-water situations.