Abstract
High-intensity eccentric exercise can cause a delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS), a short-term condition characterized by muscle damage and tenderness that might hold up recovery and jeopardize exercise routine. Previous studies indicated that hydrogen-rich water (HRW) might be a helpful topical intervention to boost recovery in musculoskeletal medicine, yet no data are available concerning the effectiveness and safety of whole-body bathing with supersaturated HRW after DOMS-inducing exercise. This study evaluates the effects of a single-session bathing with HRW on biochemical markers of muscular damage in healthy young men. The six volunteers who were exposed to DOMS-inducing eccentric exercise were assigned to either supersaturated HRW or control whole-body bathing in a double-blind crossover design. Immediately after an exercise session, the participants were immersed up to the neck into a 200 L bathtub with supersaturated HRW (8 mg of H2 per L) or control water (no hydrogen) for 30 min. Blood biomarkers of inflammation and muscular damage and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for muscle soreness were assessed at baseline (before exercise) and at 24-hour follow-up. Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference between two groups in serum creatine kinase (CK) response over the period of intervention (P=0.04). A single-session bathing in HRW prevented a rise in circulating biomarkers of muscular damage induced by exercise at 24-hour follow-up, retaining the levels of all biomarkers similar to the baseline values (P > 0.05). On the other hand, serum CK, aldolase, and aspartate transaminase were significantly elevated at 24-hour follow-up as compared to the baseline levels after the control bath (342 ± 309 U/L vs. 465 ± 295 U/L; P > 0.05). HRW bath also induced a significant drop in VAS scores for muscle soreness in comparison with control water, both immediately after an intervention (32.7 ± 8.6% vs. 20.0 ± 12.8%; P=0.02) and at 24-hour follow-up (31.6 ± 24.3% vs. 22.4 ± 27.5%; P=0.03), respectively. No participants reported any major side effects during the trial. This pilot study suggests that the whole-body bathing in supersaturated HRW is a safe procedure that attenuates muscular damage and can ease sore muscles after high-intensity eccentric exercise.
Highlights
Questing after cutting-edge after exercise recovery procedures is a never-ending story. Both recreational and professional athletes are continuously searching for evidencebased strategies that could enable safe, faster, and convenient recovery from exercise [1], allowing the individual to be properly prepared for the training session(s)
Recovering from heavy eccentric exercise appears to be challenging, given the fact that the intensive lengthening contractions are the main cause of muscle damage, known as a delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) [2]
Experimental Protocol. e volunteers were allocated in a double-blind crossover design to receive a single-session bath with a highly saturated Hydrogen-rich water (HRW) or control solution, with each immersion intervention administered after DOMS-inducing exercise. e DOMS-inducing exercise included 5 × 10 eccentric bilateral leg press contractions (120% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM) load) followed by 2 × 10 eccentric bilateral leg press contractions (100% of 1RM load), with a contraction lasts for 3–5 s, and a subject completed one contraction every 15 s while keeping 3-min rest period between sets. e measurement of 1-RM for each subject was conducted in a familiarization session one week before the experiment, with mean 1-RM load to be
Summary
Received 31 August 2020; Revised 5 October 2020; Accepted 7 October 2020; Published 15 October 2020. Previous studies indicated that hydrogen-rich water (HRW) might be a helpful topical intervention to boost recovery in musculoskeletal medicine, yet no data are available concerning the effectiveness and safety of whole-body bathing with supersaturated HRW after DOMS-inducing exercise
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