Contrast-water therapy lowers perceived exertion, but evidence remains uncertain
A systematic review of 10 studies involving 199 athletes found lower perceived-exertion ratings with contrast-water therapy than with passive recovery. It found no clear differences in soreness or creatine kinase, and the authors said the evidence was limited.
A review of 10 studies involving 199 athletes found that contrast-water therapy reduced perceived exertion compared with passive recovery. The result came from five studies and was rated low-certainty evidence.1
The review found no statistically significant difference in muscle soreness or creatine kinase levels. Evidence for soreness was rated very low certainty, while evidence for creatine kinase was rated low certainty.1
The authors said the perceived benefit did not show that athletes had regained physiological or performance capacity. They said larger, higher-quality studies were needed to verify the findings.1
