Cryotherapy: Are we freezing the benefits of exercise?

A combination of cherry juice and cold water immersion does not enhance marathon recovery compared to either treatment in isolation: A randomized placebo-controlled trial

Purpose

Cherry juice (CJ) and cold water immersion (CWI) are both effective recovery strategies following strenuous endurance exercise. However, athletes routinely combine recovery interventions and less is known about the impact of a combined CJ and CWI protocol. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of combining CWI and CJ (a “cocktail” (CT)) on inflammation and muscle damage following a marathon.

Methods

A total 39 endurance trained males were randomly assigned to a placebo (PL), CWI, CJ, or CT group before completing a trail marathon run. Muscle damage (creatine kinase (CK)), muscle function (maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC)), and inflammation (interleukin-6 (IL-6); C-reactive protein (CRP)) were measured at baseline, immediately after marathon (only IL-6), 24 h, and 48 h after marathon.

Results

There were no statistically significant differences between groups and no group × time interaction effects for any of the dependent variables. Confidence intervals (CI) illustrated that CT had unclear effects on inflammation (IL-6; CRP) and MVIC, but may have increased CK to a greater extent than PL and CJ conditions.

Conclusion

There is no evidence of an additive effect of CJ and CWI when the treatments are used in conjunction with each other. On the contrary, combining CJ and CWI may result in slightly increased circulating CK.

Adaptations to Post-exercise Cold Water Immersion: Friend, Foe, or Futile?

In the last decade, cold water immersion (CWI) has emerged as one of the most popular post-exercise recovery strategies utilized amongst athletes during training and competition. Following earlier research on the effects of CWI on the recovery of exercise performance and associated mechanisms, the recent focus has been on how CWI might influence adaptations to exercise. This line of enquiry stems from classical work demonstrating improved endurance and mitochondrial development in rodents exposed to repeated cold exposures. Moreover, there was strong rationale that CWI might enhance adaptations to exercise, given the discovery, and central role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) in both cold- and exercise-induced oxidative adaptations. Research on adaptations to post-exercise CWI have generally indicated a mode-dependant effect, where resistance training adaptations were diminished, whilst aerobic exercise performance seems unaffected but demonstrates premise for enhancement. However, the general suitability of CWI as a recovery modality has been the focus of considerable debate, primarily given the dampening effect on hypertrophy gains. In this mini-review, we highlight the key mechanisms surrounding CWI and endurance exercise adaptations, reiterating the potential for CWI to enhance endurance performance, with support from classical and contemporary works. This review also discusses the implications and insights (with regards to endurance and strength adaptations) gathered from recent studies examining the longer-term effects of CWI on training performance and recovery. Lastly, a periodized approach to recovery is proposed, where the use of CWI may be incorporated during competition or intensified training, whilst strategically avoiding periods following training focused on improving muscle strength or hypertrophy.