Comparison of contrast water immersion, active recovery and passive recovery on blood lactate and CRP levels in table tennis players

The benefits of rapid recovery after intense exercise are widely recognized, and lactate elimination and inflammation reducing are the main indicators of recovery rate. The effects of water immersion on lactate elimination and C-reactive protein (CRP) not well known, thus the purpose of this study was to investigate the comparison of contrast water immersion, active recovery and passive recovery on blood lactate and CRP levels in table tennis players.

This semi-experimental study was assigned to 30 male table tennis athletes who were divided into three groups of 10 as follows: the passive recovery, active recovery and contrast water immersion (alternating hot (38ᴼC) and cold (12ᴼC)) groups. All of the subjects undertook the Bruce test protocol and blood lactate and CRP levels were measured before and immediately after the intense exercise and after 15 min of recovery.

Repeated measures ANOVA test showed that the blood lactate and CRP levels increased immediately after the intense exercise in all three groups (P<0.05). Blood lactate and CRP levels decreased after 15 min passive recovery, active recovery and contrast water immersion compare to after the intense exercise (P<0.05). Bonferroni Post hoc test indicates that blood lactate levels were lower after the contrast water immersion than the passive recovery and active recovery (P<0.05); however for CRP, no significant differences were observed between three types of recovery.

It can be concluded that contrast water immersion is better than passive and active recovery for blood lactate elimination in table tennis players after intensive exercise; however all of these strategies are well for CRP reducing after intensive exercise.