Effects of Cold Water Immersion

🧊 A systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression compared cold-water immersion (CWI) with other commonly used recovery methods following acute strenuous exercise in physically active individuals.

📚 Twenty-eight studies were analyzed, focusing on recovery outcomes such as athletic performance, muscle soreness, perceptual measures, and creatine kinase (CK) levels. CWI was found to be superior in reducing muscle soreness and performed comparably to other modalities for muscular power and flexibility.

⚖️ When compared to active recovery, contrast water therapy, and warm-water immersion, CWI showed greater effectiveness for most recovery measures. However, air cryotherapy outperformed CWI in restoring muscular strength and immediate muscular power (1-hour post-exercise). Interestingly, water temperature and exposure time had limited influence as moderating factors in CWI’s efficacy.

✅ In summary, CWI stands out as an effective strategy for promoting recovery after intense exercise, particularly for alleviating muscle soreness, making it a valuable tool in the recovery protocols of physically active populations.

Full Text: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36527593/