Raw data of the Bandiera et al. 2024 study.

This study examined the effects of cold and hot water immersion on neuromuscular function, sprinting force production, and perceptual responses during a 72-hour recovery in football. 22 active males played a simulated football game and underwent either cold water (CWI) or hot water immersions (HWI) immediately after, and after 24 and 48 hours. Before the simulated game and 24, 48, and 72 hours after, isometric maximal voluntary contraction of the quadriceps and centraland peripheral determinants of neuromuscular fatigue (femoral nerve electrical stimulation) were assessed, as well as maximal power output and its force/velocity components during repeated sprints. At the same time points, a questionnaire captured perceptual responses. The level of significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. On average for CWI and HWI, peripheral fatigue was observed with a 7.0% decrease in maximal voluntary contraction (P<0.01), with no central fatigue (P=0.88). A loss of sprinting power output of 8.9% at 24 hours (P<0.001) was measured, and delayed onset muscle soreness increased at 24 and 48 hours (P<0.001). No significant differences were found between CWI and HWI for these variables during the recovery. Therefore, HWI could be an interesting alternative, being at least as efficient as the widely used CWI method to recover neuromuscular function, sprinting force production capacities and perceptual responses after a simulated football game.