Does extreme cold have a beneficial effect on the muscles?
Many (top) athletes swear by it: after a good workout, step into the cold store for a few minutes or plunge into an ice-cold bath, or cryotherapy. They think that their muscles recover faster, they suffer less from muscle pain and also perform better. That sounds great, but is it all true? Health net asked Specialist Top Sport Willem-Paul Wiertz of Knowledge Center Sport & Exercise.
Unfortunately, according to Wiertz, several studies have shown that none of this is the case. “There have been a lot of studies in recent years and what we see is that stepping into an ice bath or cold store has no beneficial effect on the recovery of the muscles. In these studies, for example, athletes first have a few sprints or for an hour. cycle as hard as possible so that they are well tired. Then half of those athletes receive a kind of control intervention, usually active rest – for example by cycling slowly – and the other half then go into the cold store or the ice bath. We re-evaluated the athlete’s muscle recovery, showing that there is no difference in performance between what they are doing: actively resting or stepping into an ice bath.”
So what exactly is the performance of athletes?
Last year, Maastricht University conducted another study into the performance of athletes and cryotherapy. Wiertz: “They already knew then that the muscles of those athletes do not perform better if they have been in a cold bath or in a cold store. For this study, they had a group of people do leg muscle exercises for two weeks. Then they did one leg. in warm water and the other leg in cold water. They looked at exactly what happens at the cellular level in those muscles. When you train, the muscles adapt so that they can do the next training more easily. They do this through new muscle proteins It turned out? The leg that was in cold water made less muscle proteins. So it recovers less well and you also become stronger less quickly.”
What can you use cryotherapy for?
Cryotherapy therefore does not (proven) anything for muscle recovery, muscle pain and performance. Fortunately, cryotherapy can be used very well for injuries. “If you are running or playing football and you go through your ankle, you use an ice bag. In this case the function of ice is to dampen the pain for a while. If you have suffered an injury, there is damage in the tissue present. That ensures that nerves are stimulated, so that you feel pain. If you cool down, those nerve endings are stimulated in a different way. You can’t feel pain at the same time. In this case you could certainly use cryotherapy.”
What do you advise (top) athletes who still want to use cryotherapy?
“I can imagine that athletes like it, but then they first have to consult with their (sports) doctor and specialists in their team. Are you a fanatic athlete who is interested in it? Think carefully about why you want it bets and what purpose you have in mind. Make sure you know exactly how long you want to sit or stand in it and how cold it should be. Tailor the means to the goal.”
Can it also be dangerous?
“We don’t know exactly what the effect on the heart and blood vessels is when people sit in a cold bath or stand in a cold store. If you jump into a cold bath in one go, your body gets a buzz. inhale and your heart has to work harder, which puts a peak load on your blood vessels. People who have cardiovascular diseases and want to try cryotherapy should therefore first discuss this with their doctor.”
Willem-Paul Wiertz is Specialist Top Sport at Knowledge center Sports & Exercise. This organization makes knowledge from science, policy and practice available and applicable to professionals in sports, healthcare, education and government.
