Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the effect of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC), cold-water immersion (CWI) and passive recovery (PAS) on tennis recovery.
Methods
Thirteen competitive male tennis players completed three consecutive match-like tennis protocols, followed by recovery (WBC, CWI, PAS) in a crossover design. Five tennis drills and serves were performed using a ball machine to standardize the fatiguing protocol. Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) peak torque, creatine kinase activity (CK), muscle soreness, ball accuracy and velocity together with voluntary activation, low- and high-frequency torque and EMG activity were recorded before each protocol and 24 h following the third protocol.
Results
MVC peak torque (− 7.7 ± 11.3%; p = 0.001) and the high- to low-frequency torque ratio (− 10.0 ± 25.8%; p < 0.05) decreased on Day 1 but returned to baseline on Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4 (p = 0.052, all p > 0.06). The CK activity slightly increased from 161.0 ± 100.2 to 226.0 ± 106.7 UA L−1 on Day 1 (p = 0.001) and stayed at this level (p = 0.016) across days with no differences between recovery interventions. Muscle soreness increased across days with PAS recovery (p = 0.005), while no main effect of time was neither observed with WBC nor CWI (all p > 0.292). The technical performance was maintained across protocols with WBC and PAS, while it increased for CWI on Day 3 vs Day 1 (p = 0.017).
Conclusion
Our 1.5-h tennis protocol led to mild muscle damage, though neither the neuromuscular function nor the tennis performance was altered due to accumulated workload induced by consecutive tennis protocols. The muscle soreness resulting from tennis protocols was similarly alleviated by both CWI and WBC.
Trial registration
IRB No. 2017-A02255-48, 12/05/2017.
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Abbreviations
- CK:
-
Creatine kinase
- CWI:
-
Cold-water immersion
- Db10:
-
Low frequency doublet peak torque induced by 10-Hz paired stimuli
- Db100:
-
High frequency doublet peak torque induced by 100-Hz paired stimuli
- Db10.Db100− 1 :
-
The high to low frequency torque ratio
- EMG:
-
Electromyography
- MVC:
-
Maximal voluntary contraction
- PAS:
-
Passive recovery
- RMS:
-
Maximal root mean square (RMS) value of the EMG signal
- RMSmax:
-
RMS as normalized to the peak-to-peak M-wave amplitude
- RPE:
-
Rate of perceived exertion
- WBC:
-
Whole-body cryotherapy
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the participants for their generous involvement in this study.
Funding
M. Poignard received a PhD scholarship (CIFRE contract no 2015/749) funded by the French Tennis Federation and the French Agency of Research and Technology. The Laboratory Sport, Expertise and Performance is a partner of the French-speaking network ReFORM, recognized as a Research Centre for the Prevention of Injury and Illness and the Protection of Athletes by the Olympic Committee (IOC). As a member of the IOC Medical Research Network, ReFORM has received funding from the IOC to establish long-term research programs on the prevention of injuries and illnesses in sport for the protection of athlete health.
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MP, MJ, FB, GG, and BM conceived and designed the research. MP, EM, and TG conducted the experiments. MP, FB, and GG analyzed the data. MP, FB, GG, and MJ wrote the manuscript.
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Poignard, M., Guilhem, G., Jubeau, M. et al. Cold-water immersion and whole-body cryotherapy attenuate muscle soreness during 3 days of match-like tennis protocol. Eur J Appl Physiol 123, 1895–1909 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05190-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05190-8