Differential effects of post-exercise ice water immersion and room temperature water immersion on muscular performance, vertical jump, and agility in amateur rugby players: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: This study compared the effects of post-exercise water immersion at different temperatures on the muscular and functional performance in rugby players. Methods: Fifty-three participants (21.6 ± 2.9 years) were randomly assigned to an ice water immersion (IWI; 5̊C) group, a room temperature water immersion (RWI; 25̊C) group, or a no-immersion group. After a bout of fatiguing exercise, the participants underwent an immersion intervention. The outcomes were measured at baseline and post-intervention. The isokinetic peak torque and time to peak torque during knee extension and flexion at 60°/s were recorded, along with countermovement jump height and the time taken to complete a hexagon agility test. Results: There were significant group-by-time interaction effect (P < 0.001) and time effect (P < 0.001) in the time to peak torque of knee flexion. RWI helped the rugby players’ knee muscles to reach peak torque more quickly, whereas IWI impaired both knee extensor peak force and jump performance. The agility test outcome improved on the post-test in all groups. Post-exercise IWI harmed both the knee muscular and jump performance, whereas RWI improved performance of the knee muscles.