Cold and hot water immersion are not more effective than placebo for the recovery of physical performance and training adaptations in national level soccer players

Key Points

1. Cold water immersion is commonly used in most elite athletic environments.

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Competitive athletes and exercise enthusiasts alike are always looking for strategies to optimize their recovery and enhance the restoration of physical performance. Temperature modalities are some of the most popular and easy to implement strategies. Cold-water immersion (CWI) specifically has seen a massive surge in recent years (1). Cold tubs are now being marketed and sold to the general population as part of a growing wellness trend. Despite conflicting evidence regarding the efficacy of CWI, cold tub culture is a mainstay in many locker rooms with its believers standing by their own personal experiences and preferences (2).

The authors of this paper sought to compare the effect of post-exercise CWI, hot water immersion (HWI), and a sham laser placebo on the recovery of physical performance in national level youth soccer players. Their secondary aim was to investigate the effect of repeated use on training adaptations over a 15-week period.

Temperature modalities are some of the most popular and easy to implement strategies for athlete recovery and restoration of physical performance.

For the athletes that do enjoy cold water immersion, expectation bias and placebo most likely play a role in their perceived benefit.

METHODS

• The authors recruited 43 male adolescent soccer players (age 16–19) competing at a Swedish national level and with an average workload of approximately five practices and one match per week.

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