Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Post-exercise cold water immersion: effect on core temperature and melatonin responses

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To study the effect of post-exercise cold water immersion (CWI) on core temperature and melatonin responses, 10 male cyclists completed two evening (~1800 hours) cycling trials followed by a 15-min CWI (14 °C) or warm water immersion (WWI; 34 °C), and were then monitored for 90 min post-immersion. The exercise trial involved 15 min at 75 % peak power, followed by a 15 min time trial. Core (rectal) temperature was not different between the two conditions pre-exercise (~37.4 °C), post-exercise (~39 °C) or immediately post-immersion (~37.7 °C), but was significantly (p < 0.05) below pre-exercise levels at 60 and 90 min post-immersion in both conditions. Core temperature was significantly lower after CWI than WWI at 30 min (36.84 ± 0.24 vs. 37.42 ± 0.40 °C, p < 0.05) and 90 min (36.64 ± 0.24 vs. 36.95 ± 0.43 °C, p < 0.05) post-immersion. Salivary melatonin levels significantly increased (p < 0.05) from post-exercise (~5 pM) to 90 min post-immersion (~8.3 pM), but were not different between conditions. At 30 and 90 min post-immersion heart rate was significantly lower (~5–10 bpm, p < 0.01) after CWI than WWI. These results show that undertaking either CWI or WWI post-exercise in the evening lowers core temperature below baseline for at least 90 min; however, the magnitude of decrease is significantly greater following CWI. The usual evening increase in melatonin is unaffected by exercise or post-exercise water immersion undertaken between ~1800 and ~2000 hours.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

BM:

Body mass

Bpm:

Beats per minute

CV:

Coefficient of variation

CWI:

Cold water immersion

PP:

Peak power

TT:

Time trial

WWI:

Warm water immersion

UWA:

The University of Western Australia

References

  • Al Haddad H, Laursen PB, Chollet D, Lemaitre F, Ahmaidi S, Bucheit M (2010) Effect of cold or warm water immersion on post-exercise heart rate recovery and heart rate variability indices. Auton Neurosci 156:111–116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson G, Drust B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J (2003) The relevance of melatonin to sports medicine and science. Sports Med 33(11):809–831

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bland JM, Altman DG (1995) Calculating correlation coefficients with repeated observations: part 1–correlation within subjects. Br Med J 310:446

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brukner P, Khan K (2000) Clinical sports medicine, 3rd edn. McGraw Hill, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke DG, MacNeil SA, Holt LE, MacKinnon NC, Rasmussen RL (2000) The effect of hot or cold water immersion on isometric strength training. J Strength Cond Res 14(1):21–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buxton OM, L’Hermite-Balriaux M, Hirschfeld U, Cauter E (1997) Acute and delayed effects of exercise on human melatonin secretion. J Biol Rhythms 12(6):568–574

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buxton OM, Lee CW, L’Hermite-Baleriaux M, Turek FW, Van Cauter E (2003) Exercise elicits phase shifts and acute alterations of melatonin that vary with ciracadian phase. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 284:R714–R724

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Casa DJ, McDermott BP, Lee EC, Yeargin SW, Armstrong LE, Maresh CM (2007) Cold water immersion: the gold standard for exertional heatstroke treatment. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 35(3):141–149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy JF, Czeisler CA (2009) Effect of light on human circadian physiology. Sleep Med Clin 4(2):165–177

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregson W, Black MA, Jones H, Milson J, Morton J, Dawson B, Atkinson G, Green DJ (2011) Influence of cold water immersion on limb and cutaneous blood flow at rest. Am J Sports Med. doi:10.1177/0363546510395497

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halson SL, Quod MJ, Martin DT, Gardner AS, Ebert TR, Laursen PB (2008) Physiological responses to cold water immersion following cycling in the heat. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 3:331–346

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris C (2005) Neurophysiology of sleep and wakefulness. Respir Care Clin N Am 11(4):567–586

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes RJ, Badia P (1997) Sleep-promoting and hypothermic effects of daytime melatonin administration in humans. Sleep 20(2):124–131

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram J, Dawson B, Goodman C, Wallman K, Beilby J (2009) Effect of water immersion methods on post-exercise recovery from simulated team sport exercise. J Sci Med Sport 12(3):417–421

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ishibashi K, Arikura S, Kozaki T, Higuchi S, Yasukouchi A (2010) Thermoregulatory effect in humans of supressed exogenous melatonin by pre-sleep bright-light exposure in a cold environment. Chronobiol Int 27(4):782–806

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kauppinen K, Pajari-Backas M, Violin P, Vakkuri O (1989) Some endocrine responses to sauna, shower and ice water immersion. Arctic Med Res 48(3):131–139

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lack LC, Wright HR (2007) Chronobiology of sleep in humans. Cell Mol Life Sci 64:1205–1215

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monteleone P, Maj M, Fusco M, Orazzo C, Kemali D (1990) Physical exercise at night blunts the nocturnal increase of plasma melatonin levels in healthy humans. Life Sci 47:1989–1995

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peiffer JJ, Abbiss CR, Nosaka K, Peake JM, Laursen PB (2009) Effect of cold water immersion after exercise in the heat on muscle function, body temperatures, and vessel diameter. J Sci Med Sport 12:91–96

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rowsell GJ, Coutts AJ, Reaburn P, Hill-Haas S (2009) Effects of cold-water immersion on physical performance between successive matches in high-performance junior male soccer players. J Sports Sci 27(6):565–573

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samuels C (2008) Sleep, recovery, and performance: the new frontier in high performance athletics. Neurol Clin 26:169–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sramek P, Simeckova M, Jansky L, Savlikova J, Vybiral S (2000) Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. Eur J Appl Physiol 81:436–442

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Theron JJ, Oosthuizen JMC, Rautenbach MM (1984) Effect of physical exercise on plasma melatonin levels in normal volunteers. S Afr J Med Sci 66:838–841

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaile J, Halson S, Gill N, Dawson B (2008a) Effect of cold water immersion on repeat cycling performance and thermoregulation in the heat. J Sports Sci 26(5):431–440

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaile J, Halson S, Gill N, Dawson B (2008b) Effect of hydrotherapy on recovery from fatigue. Int J Sports Med 29:539–544

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan GM (1993) New sensitive serum melatonin radioimmunoassay employing the Kennaway G280 antibody: Syrian hamster morning adrenergic response. J Pineal Res 15:88–103

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voultsios A, Kennaway DJ, Dawson D (1997) Salivary melatonin as a circadian phase marker: validation and comparison with plasma melatonin. J Biol Rhythms 12:457–466

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse J, Drust B, Weinert D, Edwards B, Gregson W, Atkinson G, Kao S, Aizawa S, Reilly T (2005) The circadian rhythm of core temperature: origin and some implications for exercise performance. Chronobiol Int 22(2):207–225

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weinert D, Waterhouse J (2007) The circadian rhythm of core temperature: effects of physical activity and aging. Physiol Behav 90:246–256

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank iCool Sport for the loan of the chilling and heating units.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Elisa Robey & Brian Dawson

  2. Performance Recovery, The Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia

    Shona Halson

  3. Sports Medicine, Western Australian Institute of Sport, Perth, Australia

    Carmel Goodman

  4. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Warren Gregson

  5. Centre for Sleep Science, School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia

    Peter Eastwood

Authors
  1. Elisa Robey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brian Dawson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shona Halson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carmel Goodman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Warren Gregson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Peter Eastwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisa Robey.

Additional information

Communicated by Narihiko Kondo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Robey, E., Dawson, B., Halson, S. et al. Post-exercise cold water immersion: effect on core temperature and melatonin responses. Eur J Appl Physiol 113, 305–311 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-012-2436-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-012-2436-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation