Effects of Cold-Water Immersion on Post-Exercise Recovery of Skeletal Muscle Function Following Acute Sprint-Interval Exercise

Cold-water immersion (CWI) is a popular post-exercise intervention, assumed to be effective in accelerating muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. Previous evidence has proposed that acute increases in oxidative stress induced by SIE cause a long-lasting depression in submaximal force generation called prolonged low-frequency force depression (PLFFD). The focus of this thesis was to test the hypothesis as to whether CWI can enhance recovery of neuromuscular function by decreasing oxidative stress and mitigating the extent of PLFFD. PLFFD was examined by measuring torque from evoked stimulation at low- and high-frequencies before, immediately after and 24h post-exercise. Results showed that PLFFD was observed at 24h post-exercise but no difference was seen in the extent of PLFFD between the cooled and control leg. These results do not support any benefit of acute 30 min post-exercise CWI on the recovery of skeletal muscle function at 24h following SIE