Adele Broodryk
North-West University, South Africa
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Sports Med Doping Stud
Background: Hydrotherapy is a popular recovery aid in the sporting fraternity; with less emphasis placed on the effect of contrast water therapy (CWT). Results regarding the beneficial effects of CWT over either an acute (0 hours) or longer (48 hours) period remain scarce or unclear. Objectives: To determine the effect of CWT and passive recovery (PAR) on various haematological and physical indicators after an intense fitness session. Methods: Twenty-three rugby players were randomly assigned to either a control (PAR) or an experimental (CWT) group. Following a 15 min long fitness session, the CWT-group alternated between warm water (40�±2 �°C; for 3 min), and cold water (8�±1 �°C; for 1 min), within the 20-min recovery period while the PAR-group remained seated. Haematological and physical indicators were evaluated at baseline, 0 h post-fitness and at 0, 24 and 48 hours post-recovery. Results: A significant decrease (pâ�¤0.05) was seen over time in haemoglobin and BLa- whereas plasma glucose and PO2 showed a significant increase from 0 to 24 hours in both CWT and PAR groups. For the CWT group, 6 variables (BLa-, haemoglobin, VJT-height, VJT peak-power, VJT peak-speed and grip strength) returned to their baseline values immediately following CWT, whereas the PAR group demonstrated recuperation at 0 hours in 4 variables (BLa-, VJT height, VJT peak-speed and grip strength). Comparing CWT and PAR, a significant variance between groups were observed in BLa- and grip strength (F (1, 21)>4, pâ�¤0.05) at various time points. Conclusions: Compared to PAR, CWT caused a larger percentage recovery in measurements, which would suggest that CWT is superior to PAR as an acute recovery modality.
Email: adele.broodryk@nwu.ac.za
Journal of Sports Medicine & Doping Studies received 1022 citations as per Google Scholar report
Spanish 
Chinese 
Russian 
German 
French 
Japanese 
Portuguese 
Hindi 