Cold showers decreased recovery heart rate after initial exercise from 115 to 96 beats/minute and improved subsequent exercise performance speed compared to rest or light activity (P<0.05).
RCT (n=10)
Randomized complete blocks design
Do cold showers improve circulatory recovery and performance after exercise compared to rest or light activity in male subjects?
Cold showers significantly improve heart rate recovery and subsequent exercise performance compared to complete rest or light activity.
Absolute Event Rate: 96% vs 115%
p-value: p=<0.05
Abstract This study investigated the effects of three types of recovery procedure on (a) circulatory recovery from a standardized bicycle ergometer exercise, (b) performance in a second standardized bicycle ergometer exercise, and (c) circulatory recovery from the second exercise. The recovery procedures were complete rest, light activity, and cold showers. Each of 10 male subjects underwent each recovery procedure on separate days. Analysis of variance for a randomized complete blocks design was used in the analysis of the data. Results indicated that cold showers decreased recovery heart rate after the first standardized exercise from 115 to 96 beats/minute and after the second exercise from 164 to 152 beats/ minute when compared with the other two conditions. Speed of performance in the second exercise was improved from 40.4 and 40.3 sec. in the case of rest and light activity to 38.9 sec. for cold showers. These improvements were all statistically significant at the .05 level. Three physiological explanations, not necessarily independent, are advanced: (a) local vasoconstriction of the skin vessels and vasodilatation of the muscle vessels causing a greater proportion of total blood flow to the working muscles, (b) establishment of a greater thermal gradient between the core and shell of the body allowing heat movement to the surface of the body by conduction between tissues rather than by skin blood flow, and (c) a decrease in sweat rate, thereby suppressing release of bradykinin, a vasodilator substance.
Falls et al. (Fri,) conducted a rct in Exercise stress (n=10). Cold showers vs. Complete rest and light activity was evaluated on Recovery heart rate after the first standardized exercise (beats/minute) (p=<0.05). Cold showers decreased recovery heart rate after initial exercise from 115 to 96 beats/minute and improved subsequent exercise performance speed compared to rest or light activity (P<0.05).