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

Effects of Post Exercise Massage and Cold-water Immersion on Movement Variability After Fatigue in Swimmers: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

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.

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