Hi,

If you are focused on the inflammation aspect then you may want to take a look at some of the work by Todd Trappe, granted it is not using BFR or ice but does look at the inflammation aspect and adaptation via protein synthesis of the muscle. I also like the artilce by Fatimah Lateef as a starting point to look at the effect of ice on muscle adpatation.

Skeletal muscle PGF(2)(alpha) and PGE(2) in response to eccentric resistance exercise: influence of ibuprofen acetaminophen.

Trappe TA1, Fluckey JD, White F, Lambert CP, Evans WJ.

Post exercise ice water immersion: Is it a form of active recovery?

Fatimah Lateef

best,

karen

Dear Lea

The below paper addresses this issue.

Kind regards

Very good question, dear John. This is not clear yet, there are too many studies sustaining different and opposite positions, but in general it's not highly regarded. Below, i link you two studies supporting negative effects of post-exercise cooling therapy

For example, in this study two athletes who applied the post-exercise cooling therapy, presented delayed onset muscle pain.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938508/ 

This study show how local ice therapy immediately after the exercise is associated with greater decreases in both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and anabolic hormones, supporting some clinical evidence for possible negative effects on athletic performance

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19652995

In my opinion, i think it's a good therapy for recovery faster but it shouldn't be used frequently, because the body would accustom physiologically and the response wouldn't be the hoped one.

We did a study on inflammatory response to ultra-endurance exercise (24h) in well train athletes in 2013. Although not looking at the inflammatory response from a good/bed point of view a novel and important finding was that there were no significant associations between the magnitude of the systemic and local muscle inflammatory reactions (i.e there were a significant increase in both systemic an local muscle inflammation, but the magnitude of these were not associated).

This finding highlights an important limitation in studies investigating issues related to muscle damage, regeneration and recovery and who only are looking an blood parameters.

 The article is attached below

Kind regards

//Peter

HI John,

An interesting area that really hasn't got a definitive answer yet.  Some of the posters above have mentioned the Yamane et al papers of 2006 and 2015, which demonstrate reduced adaptation measures following CWI.....conversely, and importantly in terms of performance, Haslon et al (2014) (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24504431) demonstrated that CWI had no effect on adaptation in elite cyclists.

In our lab we're currently investigating this area also, looking to identify any changes in protein expression and DNA methylation in muscle and systemic blood across a 10 week resistance training programme, whilst administering CWI following each session.  Hopefully this will give insight into any mechanisms that may regulate adaptation with regards to CWI exposure.

An issue that may be coming to the fore is the exercise stimulus that induces the inflammatory response in the first place, there may be a separation of the influence of CWI depending on if the exercise stressor is mechanical or metabolic in nature.  This is purely speculative however and certainly needs more work to identify this.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,

Phill

Yes, you must reduce inflammation to trigger training adaptation, and the best way to do that is to consume 2 to 3 grams of Omega-3 DHA and EPA every day. This will do a fantastic job for you, since Omega-3 is the best to fight the inflammation produced as a result or heavy training.

Hi John,

You are probably aware that the delaying or reducing the magnitude of the inflammatory response (administering NSAIDs) has been reported to hinder the muscles regenerative responses as indicated by an increase in the time required for a full return to force producing capacity (following eccentric exercise) but that reducing the inflammatory response does not impact on the magnitude of the associated pain response (DOMS).  However this may be dose dependent for a longitudinal effect on hypertrophy and strength gains (Krentz et al Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008 Jun;33(3):470-5). There are many other papers on the inflammatory response and the place/need for myokines in muscle's regenerative response.

In my opinion the recovery process undertaken (and the mechanisms that the recovery process influences) should reflect and where possible support the adaptation response being sought. Hence recovery modalities (CWI, compression, massage, sleep, nutrition etc) as a process need to be considered as another training variable with the amounts and methods prescribed varying with the training, adaptation sought (or not) depending on the position in a planned cycle and competition structure. For example early in a training cycle where you are seeking a maximal adaptive response you may use little CWI but a greater volume of nutritional supplements, while later in a cycle i.e. a taper you substantially increase the volume of CWI as you have achieved as much of the adaptation you will get and not it is about ensuring the athlete is as fully recovered to be able to give the performance desired. The work that Phillip (above) has indicated that his group is currently undertaking in the area will be well worth following as from his explanation  they may be able to provide part of a clearer understanding because also as he highlighted there is conflicting results which are due to methodological differences for the positives and negatives in using CWI.

Dear John,

This is indeed an interesting Question. At the moment we are working on a study evaluating on the effects post exercise cryotherapy on recovery characteristics. In our literature search we found an interesting study "Influence of icing on muscle regeneration after crush injury to skeletal muscles in rats" Takagi et al. 2011. They stated that "icing applied directly after a muscle crush injury could lead to retarded proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells at the early stages of regeneration through retardation of degeneration and macrophage migration" affecting chronological immunohistochemical expression of transforming growth factors in rats. 

attached you find a copy of Takagi et al. 2011

best regards

Ron 

John,

The first step in repairing any acute damage, and the first stage of muscle adaptation, is local inflammation. So logically it should not be aggressively treated. Though inflammation itself can cause cause further mechanical and pressure damage and may need treatment at that point.