Massage and Cold Water Immersion on Movement Variability After Fatigue in Swimmers

Flávia Carvalho

Status: Completed

Conditions: Muscle Tone; Perceived Exertion; Movement Disorders

Treatments: Other: Massage; Other: Cold water immersion

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04541901

001

ECD001

2020/11146-0 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effectiveness of post-exercise massage and cold-water immersion compared to control in young elite swimmers. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Is post-exercise techniques effective for recovery of the movement variability, , myotonometric, ergometric and perceptive parameters after fatigue?
• Can neuromuscular fatigue protocols impair movement variability, myotonometric, ergometric and perceptive parameters?
• What tests are reliable to assess different aspects of swimmers' recovery?

Researchers will compare massage and cold-water immersion to control and to each other to see if recovery is antecipated. They will also compare an in-water and an out-of-water fatigue protocol to see if they are effective and can be used in different settings.

Participants will:

• Perform test and retest sessions to assess movement variability, myotonometric, ergometric and perceptive parameters.
• Perform an in-water fatigue protocol consisting of 8x100m front-crawl sprints
• Receive three recovery strategies in a randomized order (massage, cold-water immersion and control (i.e. rest)
• Answer a questionnaire regarding ther beliefs and preferences for recovery.

Enrollment: 22 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 15 to 30 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• male and female athletes
• between 15 and 30 years old
• no injury over the last month (any complaint that prevented the athlete from training or compete at least once)

Exclusion criteria

• use of pain killers at least 24h before study participation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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22 participants in 3 patient groups

Massage

Experimental group

Description:

12 minutes of effleurage and petrissage on the upper limbs administered after fatiguing exercise in the swimming pool

Treatment:

Other: Massage

Cold-water immersion

Experimental group

Description:

12 minutes of cold-water immersion at the shoulder level with water temperature between 11 to 15°C

Treatment:

Other: Cold water immersion

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

12 minutes of rest. The athletes are free to sit or walk around the place but are advised to refrain from exercise in and out of the pool.