INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES TO COLD WATER IMMERSION ON

HANDGRIP PERFORMANCE

Jiří Baláš (1), Jan Kodejška(1), Jan Gajdošík(1), David Giles(2)1 Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague, Czech

Republic2 College of Health and Social Care, University of Derby, UK

Background

• Active recovery and cold water immersion (CWI) have been found to

be beneficial for recovery following repeated sport climbing

performances (Baláš, Chovan, & Martin, 2010; Draper et al. 2006;

Heyman, De Geus, Mertens, & Meeusen, 2009).

• CWI increased subsequent handgrip performance, further, a CWI

protocol using 15°C water temperature was found superior to 8°C

(Kodejška, Baláš, & Draper, 2018). However, this study showed large

individual variation in handgrip performance

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Effects of Four Recovery Methods on Repeated Maximal Rock Climbing Performance (Heyman et al., 2009)

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Test no

Active recovery CWIContrast water Passive recovery

Effect of hydrotherapy, active and passive recovery on repeated maximal climbing performance (Baláš, Chovan,Martin, 2010)

Effect of cold water immersion on handgrip performance in rock climbers (Kodejška, Baláš, Draper, 2018)

38% 27%32% -8%

Effect of cold water immersion on handgrip performance in rock climbers (Kodejška, Baláš, Draper,2018)

Aim

•To investigate the individual effect of 15°C CWI on repeated forearm contractions.

Methods

•Participants• Twenty-nine sport climbers (15 males: age 30.1 ± 7.3

yrs; body mass 71.0 ± 9.3 kg; height 178.3 ± 9.7 cm; 14 females: age 25.5 ± 3.7 yrs; body mass 56.9 ± 5.5 kg; height 166.1 ± 5.6 cm) • The ability of climbers ranged from 11 to 24 according

IRCRA (from 6a to 8a+ French grade)

Methods Handgrip intermittentcontractions• 8s contraction - 2s recovery.• Open grip position, 2.3 cm deep

rung• If the applied force was 10%

below the target force for more than 1s, the trial was terminated.

NIRS• Oxymon (Artinis Medical

System, BV, The Netherlands)• 1/3 FDP

Methods

•CWI 15° C - 20 min three 6 min cycles (4 min immersion, 2 min out of water) and 2 min for preparation

Methods

• Body fat (%)• Forearm circumference (cm)• Cold perception (ordinal 7

points scale)• Re-oxygenation (delta TSI relief

%)• De-oxygenation (delta TSI

contraction %)• TSI min (%)• Sex

Females (N=14) Males (N=15)

MeanStd.

DeviationMean

Std. Deviation

Body fat (%) 16.4 3.5 7.7 2.1Forearm circumference (cm) 24.2 1.3 28.1 2.1Fmax (N) 385.6 70.7 571.3 85.4Climbing ability (IRCRA) 15.3 3.2 17.9 4.1∆TSI contraction 2nd test (%) 8.7 2.3 9.0 2.2

∆ TSI relief 2nd test (%) 8.6 2.3 8.6 2.0TSI min 2nd test (%) 25.0 7.5 29.6 9.9∆TSI contraction 3rd test (%) 8.2 2.2 9.5 2.3

∆ TSI relief 3rd test (%) 7.9 2.2 9.2 2.5TSI min 3rd test (%) 22.3 5.6 26.1 7.6

Females Males

∆ FTI 1st -2nd test ∆ FTI 2nd - 3rd test ∆ FTI 1st -2nd test ∆ FTI 2nd - 3rd test

FTI 1st test (Ns) 0.001 -0.206 0.855** 0.712**

Body fat (%) 0.302 0.308 -0.337 -0.258

Fmax (N) -0.192 -0.161 0.129 -0.002

Climbing ability (IRCRA scale) 0.175 0.120 0.566* 0.437

Forearm circumference (cm) 0.221 0.154 0.068 0.034

Cold perception after 1st recovery -0.328 0.217

∆TSI contraction 2nd test (%) 0.123 -0.241

∆ TSI relief 2nd test (%) 0.066 0.011

TSI min 2nd test (%) 0.005 0.272

Cold perception 2nd recovery -0.263 0.277

∆TSI contraction 3rd test (%) 0.201 -0.023

∆TSI relief 3rd test (%) 0.165 0.231

TSI min 3rd test (%) 0.433 0.321

Results

Intermittent handgrip test no.

Discussion• Previous research has suggested that optimization of

submaximal isometric contractions occurs with a muscle temperature of 27°-28°C (Clarke, Hellon, & Lind, 1958; Edwards et al., 1972; Wakabayashi, Oksa, & Tipton, 2015). • SKIN x MUSCLE TEMPERATURE• Forearm circumference, body fat, cold adaptation,….

• AEROBIC x ANAEROBIC METABOLIC PATHWAYS• Aerobic metabolism did not seem to be affected• Greater FTI and increase in subsequent performance might be

connected with greater type II MU recruitments and more effective anaerobic pathways

Conclusions

15°C CWI has potential benefits as a recovery strategy for rock climbers and precooling may optimize climbing performance. However, individual application has to be taken in consideration as several mechanisms influence the effect of CWI on muscle performance.