Stephen W. Garland

The effects of contrast bathing and compression therapy on muscular performance.

UNLABELLED Contrast bathing (CB) and compression garments (CG) are widely used to promote recovery. PURPOSE To evaluate CB and CG as regeneration strategies after exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). METHODS Baseline values of muscle soreness, serum creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin (Mb), joint range of motion, limb girth, 10- or 30-m sprint, countermovement jump (CMJ), and five repetition maximum squat were completed by 26 young men who then undertook a resistance exercise challenge (REC) to induce EIMD: 6 x 10 parallel squats at 100% body weight with 5-s one repetition maximum eccentric squat superimposed onto each set. After the REC, subjects were separated into three intervention groups: CB, CG, and control (CONT). Forty-eight hours after REC, the subjects exercise performance was reassessed. CK and Mb were also measured +1, +24, and +48 h post-REC. RESULTS CK was elevated at +24 h ( upward arrow140%; upward arrow161%; upward arrow270%), and Mb was elevated at +1 h ( upward arrow523%; upward arrow458%; upward arrow682%) in CB, CG, and CONT. Within-group large effect sizes for loge[CK] were found for CB at +24 h (0.80) and +48 h (0.84). Area under the [Mb] curve was lower in CB compared with CG and CONT (P < or = 0.05). At +48 h, significant differences from baseline were found in all groups for CMJ (CG, downward arrow5.1%; CB, downward arrow4.4%; CONT, downward arrow8.5%) and soreness ( upward arrow213%; upward arrow284%; upward arrow284%). Soreness transiently fell at +1 h compared with post-REC in the CB group. At +48 h, midthigh girth increased in CB ( upward arrow1.4%) and CONT ( upward arrow1.6%), whereas 30-m sprint time increased in CG ( upward arrow2%). CONCLUSION No hierarchy of recovery effects was found. Neither contrast bathing nor compression acted to promote acute recovery from EIMD any more effectively than passive conditions, although contrast bathing may transiently attenuate postexercise soreness.

Interpretation of the Physiological Monitoring of an International Swimmer

It remains contentious whether improvements in the swimming speed at various lactate concentrations coincide with improvements in competitive performances. A lack of longitudinal data exists to confirm this premise. This case study presents data for a world-class 200-m male breaststroke swimmer from a sports science support programme over a three-year period. Eleven (7 × 200-m) Step tests were undertaken during this period Seven of the Step tests occurred within two-three weeks of a competition performance. Rank order correlation demonstrated that higher race speeds coincided significantly (P 0.1) with higher speeds at blood lactate concentrations of 4 mM (ρ = 0.95), 6 mM (ρ = 1), 8 mM (ρ = 0.95). Data were observed to fluctuate following periods of overreaching, detraining and also due to poor nutritional practice. It was concluded that changes in the speed at various blood lactate concentrations can inform the coaching process, but only when measured alongside other parameters and where an in-depth knowledge of the swimmers health and training status is available.