The Effects of Age and Body Fat Content on Post-Downhill Run Recovery Following Whole Body Cryotherapy.

Adnan Haq,William Ribbans,Anthony W Baross

doi:10.3390/ijerph18062906

Abstract

This study explored the effects of age and body fat content on responses to whole body cryotherapy (WBC) following a downhill running bout. Forty-one male participants (mean ± SD age 42.0 ± 13.7 years, body mass 75.2 ± 10.8 kg) were allocated into WBC (n = 26) and control (CON, n = 15) groups. WBC participants were divided into old (OLD, ≥45 years, n = 10) and young (YNG, <40 years, n = 13), as well as high fat (HFAT, ≥20%, n = 10) and low fat (LFAT ≤ 15%, n = 8) groups. Participants completed a 30 min downhill run (15% gradient) at 60% VO2 max. The WBC group underwent cryotherapy (3 min, −120 °C) 1 h post-run and CON participants passively recovered in a controlled environment (20 °C). Maximal isometric leg muscle torque was assessed pre and 24 h post-run. Blood creatine kinase (CK) and muscle soreness were assessed pre, post, one hour and 24 h post-run. Muscle torque significantly decreased in both groups post-downhill run (WBC: 220.6 ± 61.4 Nm vs. 208.3 ± 67.6 Nm, p = 0.02; CON: 239.7 ± 51.1 Nm vs. 212.1 ± 46.3 Nm, p = 0.00). The mean decrease in WBC was significantly less than in CON (p = 0.04). Soreness and CK increased 24 h post for WBC and CON (p < 0.01) with no difference between groups. Muscle torque significantly decreased in OLD participants (p = 0.04) but not in YNG (p = 0.55). There were no differences between HFAT and LFAT (all p values > 0.05). WBC may attenuate muscle damage and benefit muscle strength recovery following eccentrically biased exercises, particularly for young males.

Highlights

Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) is an extremely cold treatment that has been used for pain remission, musculoskeletal disorders and skin lesions [1,2]
This study aimed to examine the effect of whole body cryotherapy (WBC) following a downhill run, a common exercise protocol imposing continual eccentric contractions on the quadriceps muscles
There was a significant decrease in maximal isometric muscle torque for both groups following the downhill run

Summary

Introduction

Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) is an extremely cold treatment (typically below−100 ◦ C) that has been used for pain remission, musculoskeletal disorders and skin lesions [1,2]. Several reported effects of WBC post-exercise include attenuated blood markers such as creatine kinase (CK) [5], muscle soreness [6], inflammation [7,8]. Alleviated reductions in muscle torque [9,10] Despite these effects, the precise impact of WBC in sports and performance remains equivocal [11,12], whilst negative effects have been reported [13]. Inter-individual variability— age and body fat—is a potentially important consideration when evaluating the impact of WBC and informing optimal practices. Probable causes of reduced recovery and performance capacity with ageing include muscle mass and strength loss (sarcopenia), oxidative damage and chronic inflammation [14], which could affect responses to cryotherapy post-exercise. There is a paucity of literature concerning differences in responses to cryotherapy between young and old populations

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