The use of water immersion as a recovery intervention following high-intensity excercise : an investigation of the physiological and performance effects

Abstract

Despite the lack of a clear scientific basis for its usage, cold water immersion (CWI) and contrast water therapy (CWT) are commonly used recovery interventions in elite sport. Anecdotally, a number of theoretical benefits have been advanced to support the use of water immersion, including the suggestion that CWI and/or CWT facilitate lactate clearance following high-intensity exercise. Therefore, the primary aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of different water immersion protocols between two bouts of high-intensity exercise to establish if there was a benefit to subsequent performance, and if so, was this benefit directly related to a particular physiological effect associated with the immersion protocol.