Context: Tournament season can provoke overreaching syndrome in professional tennis players, which may lead to deteriorated performance. Thus, appropriate recovery methods are crucial for athletes in order to sustain high-level performance and avoid injuries. We hypothesized that whole-body cryostimulation could be applied to support the recovery process.Objective: To assess the effects of 5 days of whole-body cryostimulation combined with moderate-intensity training on immunologic, hormonal, and hematologic responses; resting metabolic rate; and tennis performance in a posttournament season.Design: Controlled laboratory study.Setting: National Olympic Sport Centre.Patients or Other Participants: Twelve high-ranking professional tennis players.Intervention(s): Participants followed a moderate-intensity training program. A subgroup was treated with the 5-day whole-body cryostimulation (−120°C) applied twice a day. The control subgroup participated in the training only.Main Outcome Measure(s): Pretreatment and posttreatment blood samples were collected and analyzed for tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 6, testosterone, cortisol, and creatine kinase. Resting metabolic rate and performance of a tennis drill were also assessed.Results: Proinflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor α) decreased and pleiotropic cytokine (interleukin 6) and cortisol increased in the group exposed to cryostimulation. In the same group, greater stroke effectiveness during the tennis drill and faster recovery were observed. Neither the training program nor cryostimulation affected resting metabolic rate.Conclusions: Professional tennis players experienced an intensified inflammatory response after the completed tournament season, which may lead to overreaching. Applying whole-body cryostimulation in conjunction with moderate-intensity training was more effective for the recovery process than the training itself. The 5-day exposure to cryostimulation twice a day ameliorated the cytokine profile, resulting in a decrease in tumor necrosis factor α and an increase in interleukin 6.

We investigated the aerobic and anaerobic benefits of high-intensity interval training performed at a work-to-rest ratio of 1:2 because little performance enhancement data exist based on this ratio. Recreationally active male volunteers (21 years, 184 cm, 81.5 kg) were randomly assigned to a training (interval training [IT] n = 10) or control group (n = 11). Baseline assessments were repeated after the last training session. Each participant underwent basic anthropometric assessment and performed a VO2max test on an electronically braked cycle ergometer and a 30-second Wingate test. Venous samples were acquired at the antecubital vein and subsequently processed for lactate (LA); samples were obtained at rest, and 5 and 15-minute post-Wingate test. The interval training used a cycling power output equivalent to 80% of VO2max (80% p VO2max) applied for 6 90-second bouts (each followed by 180-second rest) per session, 3 sessions per week, for 6 weeks. The control group maintained their normal routine for the 6-week period. Group × time repeated-measures analyses of variance revealed that IT improved VO2max (5.5 ml · kg(-1) · min), anaerobic threshold (3.8 ml · kg(-1) · min), work output (12.5 J · kg(-1)), glycolytic work (11.5 J · kg(-1)), mean power (0.3 W · kg), peak power (0.4 W · kg(-1)), and max power (0.4 W · kg(-1)); p < 0.05. Posttesting LA was lower on average for IT at the 5-minute mark but significantly so at the 15-minute mark. Twenty-seven minutes of cycling at 80% p VO2max applied with a work-to-rest ratio of 1:2 and spread over 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks provided sufficient stimulus to significantly improve markers of anaerobic and aerobic performance in recreationally active college-aged men. Inclusion of such a protocol into a training program may rapidly restore or improve a client's or athlete's maximal functional capacity.

Inflammation may accompany obesity and a variety of diseases, or result from excessive exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of whole-body cryostimulation on the inflammatory response induced by eccentric exercise under laboratory conditions. The study also sought to establish if cold treatment changes the lipid profile and modifies energy expenditure in young people. Eighteen healthy and physically active, college-aged men volunteered to participate in the experiment. They were divided into two subgroups: CRY- submitted to whole-body cryostimulation, and CONT- a control group. Both groups performed eccentric work to induce muscle damage. Blood samples were collected before and 24 h after the exercise. Over the five days that followed, the CRY group was exposed to a series of 10 sessions in a cryogenic chamber (twice a day, for 3 min, at a temperature of -110̊C). After this period of rest, both groups repeated a similar eccentric work session, following the same schedule of blood collection. The perceived pain was noted 24h after each session of eccentric workout. A 30-minute step up/down work-out induced delayed-onset muscle soreness in both groups. The five-day recovery period accompanied by exposure to cold significantly enhanced the concentration of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. It also led to a pronounced reduction in levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β, and reduced muscle damage. The values for IL-10 before the second bout of eccentric exercise in the CRY group were 2.0-fold higher in comparison to baseline, whereas in the CONT group, the concentration remained unchanged. Furthermore, blood concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β fell significantly in the CRY group. The main finding of this study was that a series of 10 sessions of whole body cryostimulation significantly reduced the inflammatory response induced by eccentric exercise. The lipid profile was also improved, but there was no effect on energy expenditure during the exercise.

This study was aimed to evaluate anti-inflammatory effect of the whole body cryostimulation in obese men. Fourteen subjects (BMI >30 kg m⁻²), divided into two subgroups according to cardiorespiratory fitness: higher (HCF) or lower (LCF), have been exposed to 10 sessions in a cryogenic chamber (−110 °C). Blood samples were collected before, 30 min and 24 h after the first, fifth and last cryostimulation. Coldness exposures affected blood cytokine profile; however, the response depended on subjects’ fitness capacity. Concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the LCF decreased by 19, 6.8, and 7.4 % in IL-6, resistin, and visfatin, respectively. TNFα in the LCF dropped 4.3-fold compared to baseline, while in the HCF, changes were smaller, yet significant. Anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 increased in both groups. No changes in adiponectin and leptin were observed in either group. Obtained results suggest that whole body cryostimulation can be a supplementary method for obese in reducing systemic inflammation.