Comparison between Cold Water Immersion and Active Recovery on Perceived Pain Relieve among Male Football Players

Abstract

The purpose this study was to investigate the comparison between Cold Water Immersion (CWI) and Active Recovery (AR) on perceived pain relieve after performing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) among male football players. The study used a quasi-experimental method as its research design. A random sample of 36 footballers from a public university age ranging from 18 to 23 years old was selected for the study. They were assigned to two groups, namely CWI (n=18) and AR (n=18). All participants performed ―Tabata Training for 20 minutes before undergo recovery intervention. Recovery intervention using CWI was conducted for 10 minutes with temperature of 15°C, while AR was conducted for 10 minutes by cycling on cycle ergometer with speed of 60 RPM, load 50w with moderate intensity of 50%-60%. Both recovery interventions were performed immediately, after 24 hours and 48 hours. Visual Analog Scale was used to measure perceived pain relieve on 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours. Repeated Measure One-way ANOVA was utilized for data analysis. ANOVA result revealed there was no significant difference between CWI and AR after 24 hours of recovery [F(1,34) = 0.507; p>0.05]. However, there was a significant difference on perceived pain relieve between CWI and AR during 48 hours [F(1,34) = 92.53; p<0.05] and 72 hours [F(1,34) = 326.96; p<0.05]. In addition, the finding also showed that there was a significant interaction among CWI during 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours [F(2,34)= 2332.60; p<0.05]. Besides, there was a significant interaction among AR during 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours [F(2,34)=1051.91; p<0.05]. In conclusion, the data revealed that there was a significant effect for perceived pain relieve after performing HIIT for both interventions. The implication of the study highlights that both methods of recovery process could be used by football players for pain relieve after training and competition.