Enhanced recovery following physical activity and exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) has become a priority for athletes. Consequently, a number of post-exercise recovery strategies are used, often without scientific evidence of their benefits. Within this framework, the purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of whole body cryotherapy (WBC), far infrared (FIR) or passive (PAS) modalities in hastening muscular recovery within the 48 hours after a simulated trail running race. In 3 non-adjoining weeks, 9 well-trained runners performed 3 repetitions of a simulated trail run on a motorized treadmill, designed to induce muscle damage. Immediately (post), post 24 h, and post 48 h after exercise, all participants tested three different recovery modalities (WBC, FIR, PAS) in a random order over the three separate weeks. Markers of muscle damage (maximal isometric muscle strength, plasma creatine kinase [CK] activity and perceived sensations [i.e. pain, tiredness, well-being]) were recorded before, immediately after (post), post 1 h, post 24 h, and post 48 h after exercise. In all testing sessions, the simulated 48 min trail run induced a similar, significant amount of muscle damage. Maximal muscle strength and perceived sensations were recovered after the first WBC session (post 1 h), while recovery took 24 h with FIR, and was not attained through the PAS recovery modality. No differences in plasma CK activity were recorded between conditions. Three WBC sessions performed within the 48 hours after a damaging running exercise accelerate recovery from EIMD to a greater extent than FIR or PAS modalities.

Context: For athletes in disciplines with weight categories, it is important to assess body composition and weight fluctuations.Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of measuring body fat percentage with a portable ultrasound device possessing high accuracy and reliability versus fan-beam, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).Design: Cross-validation study. Setting: Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 93 athletes (24 women, 69 men), aged 23.5 6 3.7 years, with body mass index 5 24.0 6 4.2 and body fat percentage via DEXA 5 9.41 6 8.1 participated. All participants were elite athletes selected from the Institut National des Sports et de l'Education Physique. These participants practiced a variety of weight-category sports.Main Outcome Measure(s): We measured body fat and body fat percentage using an ultrasound technique associated with anthropometric values and the DEXA reference technique.Cross-validation between the ultrasound technique and DEXA was then performed.Results: Ultrasound estimates of body fat percentage were correlated closely with those of DEXA in both females (r 5 0.97, standard error of the estimate 5 1.79) and males (r 5 0.98, standard error of the estimate 5 0.96). The ultrasound technique in both sexes had a low total error (0.93). The 95% limit of agreement was 20.06 6 1.2 for all athletes and did not show an overprediction or underprediction bias. We developed a new model to produce body fat estimates with ultrasound and anthropometric dimensions.Conclusions: I n sport disciplines with weight categories, assessing individual weight fluctuations and their consequences on body composition is important to optimize the performances of athletes during competitions. 1-3 Just before a competition, some athletes need to lose a large quantity of body weight in a short period of time. This weight loss is difficult for many athletes because it often results in poorer performances. 4,5 It is, therefore, necessary to determine each athlete's ideal weight category. For that purpose, knowledge of body composition in relation to total body fat (BF) and fatfree mass (FFM) is required. Optimizing these components is essential for improving physical training for each athlete.To evaluate BF percentage (BF%), a noninvasive portable ultrasound device that measures the thickness of subcutaneous fat and has been validated on sedentary participants can be used. Pineau et al 6 cross-validated the portable ultrasound technique (UT), air-displacement plethysmography, and bioelectric impedance (BIA) with fan-beam, dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in 89 healthy volunteers. Body fat percentage estimates by UT were more accurate than those obtained with air-displacement plethysmography or BIA, regardless of sex.A cross-validation study between UT and the DEXA reference was carried out and the results compared on 93 athletes. The portable UT measures the thickness of subcutaneous fat. These measurements were taken at specific points on all participants for the estimation of BF, BF%, and F...

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