Influence of post-exercise muscle cooling on oxidative stress, antioxidants, and lactate levels

Background: This study was to examine the influence of post-exercise muscle-cooling treatment on reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs), biological antioxidant potential (BAP) and lactate levels. Methods: Ten male university students (mean age: 21.05±0.67 years, height: 176.05±2.61 cm, weight: 68.20±2.24 kg, BMI: 22.20±1.82 kg/m2, systolic blood pressure: 118.05±2.78 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure: 66.70±4.39 mmHg) without any medical problems were randomly measured post-exercise following muscle-cooling treatment condition (TC) and control condition (CC) with an interval of one week between measurements. Participants performed until all-out exercise in two conditions. TC consisted of placing the femoral region in a bathtub filled with 9.8±0.2 °C water for 10 minutes, and CC consisted of full relaxation on a chair for recovery time. Blood samples from a fingertip capillary were collected three times: at rest, immediately after exercise (IAE), and 10 minutes of recovery (R10). Results: BAP and lactate levels in IAE increased to compare with rest, however decreased after R10 in TC (P<0.05). BAP and lactate levels in IAE increased in comparison with rest and d-ROMs, BAP, and lactate levels were higher after recovery than rest in CC (P<0.05). Conclusions: Muscle-cooling treatment during 10 minute of recovery after all-out exercise with treadmill graded exercise decreased oxidative stress and lactate levels.