Dissociated Time Course of Muscle Damage Recovery Between Single- and Multi-Joint Exercises in Highly Resistance-Trained Men.

This study compared the time course of elbow flexor muscle recovery after multi- and single-joint exercises in highly resistance-trained men. Sixteen men (24.5 ± 5.5 years) performed, in a counterbalanced order, 8 sets of 10 repetition maximum (RM) unilateral seated row exercise and 8 sets of 10RM unilateral biceps preacher curl exercise using the contralateral arm. Maximum isometric peak torque (PT) and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) were recorded at baseline (pre), 10 minutes, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after each exercise protocol. There was a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in elbow flexor PT 10 minutes after both the multi- and single-joint exercise sessions. However, PT decrease was greater after single-joint (26.8%) when compared with multi-joint (15.1%) exercise (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, elbow flexor PT was lower (8.4%) than baseline 24 hours after the single-joint exercise (p < 0.01), whereas PT returned to baseline 24 hours after the multi-joint exercise. Compared with baseline, DOMS increased at 24, 48, and 72 hours after single-joint exercise (p ≤ 0.05). However, DOMS returned to baseline levels after 72 hours after multi-joint exercise. In addition, DOMS after single-joint exercise was greater (p ≤ 0.05) than after multi-joint exercise at 24, 48, and 72 hours after exercise. Our data suggest that after a resistance training session, highly resistance-trained men experience dissimilar elbow flexor strength recovery between single-joint and multi-joint exercises. Likewise, elbow flexor DOMS is greater and takes longer to recover after single-joint exercise.

Does whole-body cryotherapy improve vertical jump recovery following a high-intensity exercise bout?

Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) has been used as a recovery strategy following different sports activities. Thus, the aim of the study reported here was to examine the effect of WBC on vertical jump recovery following a high-intensity exercise (HIE) bout. Twelve trained men (mean ± standard deviation age = 23.9±5.9 years) were randomly exposed to two different conditions separated by 7 days: 1) WBC (3 minutes of WBC at -110°C immediately after the HIE) and 2) control (CON; no WBC after the HIE). The HIE consisted of six sets of ten repetitions of knee extensions at 60° · s(-1) concentric and 180° · s(-1) eccentric on an isokinetic dynamometer. The vertical jump test was used to evaluate the influence of HIE on lower extremity muscular performance. The vertical jump was performed on a force platform before HIE (T1) and 30 minutes after (T2) the WBC and CON conditions. As a result of HIE, jump height, muscle power, and maximal velocity (Vmax) had significant decreases between T1 and T2, however no significance was found between the WBC and CON conditions. The results indicate that one session of WBC had no effect on vertical jump following an HIE compared with a CON condition. WBC may not improve muscle-function (dependent on stretch-shortening cycle) recovery in very short periods (ie, 30 minutes) following HIE.