Cold Water Immersion and Inflammatory Response After Resistance Exercises

Abstract

Introduction: High-intensity resistance exercises (RE) cause an inflammatory response that reduces functionality. Objective: To evaluate the effects of Cold Water Immersion (CWI) on leukocytosis, oxidative stress parameters, inflammatory markers and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) resulting from a RE session in untrained volunteers. Methods: Thirteen volunteers (aged 26 ± 5 years) who do not engage in RE were randomized and underwent Control RE and RE with CWI sessions. Exercise sessions (leg extension machine, squats and leg presses) consisted of four sets of 10 maximum repetitions (one-week interval between the assessment and the sessions). CWI consisted of immersion in water (15°C) to the umbilicus for 10 minutes immediately after the exercise session. Complete blood count, CRP, creatine kinase (CK) and lipoperoxidation (LPO) were assessed previously (baseline) and immediately, 30 minutes and 2 hours after RE. DOMS was assessed 24 hours after the sessions. Results: RE induced progressive leukocytosis (P<0.001). CRP was elevated 2 hours after exercise (P=0.008) only in the Control RE session. CK increased 30 minutes and 2 hours after exercise (P<0.001) in the Control session, whereas in the CWI session the increase was observed after 2 hours (P<0.001). LPO increased only in the Control session after 2 hours (P=0.025). CWI reduced DOMS by 57% (P<0.001). Conclusion: CWI slows the inflammatory response and reduces DOMS in untrained individuals undergoing RE. Level of Evidence I; Randomized Clinical Trial.

Muscle Strength and Power: Primary Outcome Measures to Assess Cold Water Immersion Efficacy After Exercise With a Strong Strength or Power Component

“…CWI is thought to expedite recovery from exercise by lowering skin, intramuscular and body temperature, cardiovascular strain, blood flow and increasing metabolism, blood pressure and heart rate (Bleakley and Davison, 2010b ; Ihsan et al, 2016 ). Although CWI does not influence glycogen resynthesis rates after exhaustive exercise in humans (Gregson et al, 2013 ), other cryotherapy applications can reduce inflammatory cell infiltration after soft tissue injuries in animal studies (Bleakley and Davison, 2010a ) and CWI can lower inflammatory biomarkers after contact sport (Lindsay et al, 2017 ) and resistance exercise in humans (Missau et al, 2018 ). However, there are equivocal findings that CWI does not affect muscle-specific or circulating inflammatory biomarkers after resistance exercise (Peake et al, 2017a ), repeated sprints (White et al, 2014 ) or volleyball training (De Freitas et al, 2019 ) in humans.…”

Electrolyte Changes Related to Muscle Pain After Resistance Exercises

“…Twenty-four h after the exercise session, the subjective perception of pain was assessed by the visual analogue scale. 4…”

“…2,3 However, RE performed at high intensity causes an acute inflammatory response. [4][5][6] Inflammatory process results from injury to muscle fibers 7 due to an increased production of oxygen and nitrogen reactive species that induce oxidative stress. 4,5,8 After RE, inflammatory cytokines are released into the blood, including interleukins (IL), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) 9 and acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP).…”

“…[4][5][6] Inflammatory process results from injury to muscle fibers 7 due to an increased production of oxygen and nitrogen reactive species that induce oxidative stress. 4,5,8 After RE, inflammatory cytokines are released into the blood, including interleukins (IL), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) 9 and acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP). 4,5 Clinically, the inflammatory response is perceived by delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), that may occur after exercise, but usually occurs between 24 to 72 hours (h) after physical activity and can last for up to seven days.…”

“…4,5,8 After RE, inflammatory cytokines are released into the blood, including interleukins (IL), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) 9 and acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP). 4,5 Clinically, the inflammatory response is perceived by delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), that may occur after exercise, but usually occurs between 24 to 72 hours (h) after physical activity and can last for up to seven days. 10,11 This response leads to decreased functionality and abandonment of exercise programs, especially in sedentary and / or untrained individuals.…”