Influence of Cooling on the Effect of Strength Training

Recovery strategies represent a not sufficiently investigated chance in elite training control to optimize the complete training process. Coaches and athletes are confronted with numerous potentially effective recovery methods, e.g. cooling, warming, active recovery, compression, massage or power naps. However, the effectivity of these methods has rarely been investigated under controlled scientific conditions. Based on the state of the art,so far hardly any definite practical conclusions regarding effective recovery methods can be drawn, especially regarding sport-specific strategies and settings. Currently, cold water immersion is a particularly popular recovery strategy. However, there are hints that repeated cooling interventions after training can impair the training effect. This could potentially be caused by a faster reconstitution of homeostasis due to cooling. For fast recovery of performance, this effect would be desirable, but at the same time these homeostatic disturbances are the basis of signal processes leading to training adaptations.

The aim of this study is to investigate if regular cold water immersion after strength training has a negative influence on the desired training-induced performance enhancement.