By David Webb, 26 August 2009

As a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player or a Judoka (recreational or high level performer) I am sure at some point or most of the time you feel the stresses and strains of training. Whether your frequency of training is once, twice a day or simply 2-3 sessions per week need not be brought into the equation here as I am sure that through the rigours of any session and the technical aspects of gripping, drilling, stretching and general randori/rolling take their respective toll on you ability to function on both a physical and mental 'level playing field' and that's not taking into account the conditioning programmes that you engage upon during various stages of a Macrocycle.

Over the years sportsmen and women have sought many remedies and practices to combat the adverse affects of training from active recovery and post-event massage to nutritional supplements to maintain the body's metabolic status quo. Over the past five to ten years, however, many high level performers have engaged in what is known as or cold therapy and to a certain extent everyday performers have begun to imitate its use and have adopted certain aspects into their own training and recovery processes. It is hoped that from this brief article I can offer a general overview of the benefits of cold therapy a give a small description of its uses for those who aren't already utilising it.

Cryotherapy or cold therapy comes in many forms and has had many studies dedicated to sourcing its benefits. The most common is the ice bath and most elite athletes/teams are now using the practice post (and sometimes pre-) exercise. Paula Radcliffe, Amir Khan (2004 Olympic training camp), various Premiership Rugby Union teams and of course Wanderlei Silva are just four examples of top level performers that brave the concept.

Anything from your regular home bath to a wheelie bin can be used depending on how much of the body needs to be submerged during the therapy. Doing a quick search before penning this article has drawn up companies selling inflatable versions from anywhere between £85.00 - £105.00.

The physiology behind Cryotherapy:

The general premise and rationale behind Cryotherapy is that with exercise comes cellular activity in the form of the 'Krebs /Citric Acid cycle'. This cellular metabolism is engaged over many chemical progressions and is the body's way of resynthesizing Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) for energy. Without adequate oxygen, that generally arrives 2-4 minutes into the exercise via the aerobic energy system, this activity has the potential to create various 'bi-products' along the way that inhibit 1) the performers aerobic potential (via oxygen debt and or carbon dioxide production) and 2) his or her anaerobic threshold as blood pH is lowered and acidosis sets in.

This acidosis, in simple terms, is partly responsible for delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) if left to 'pool' within the muscle capillary bed. The days following exercise the athlete will feel tightness, soreness and a general stiffness towards any type of physical activity in the affected area, this can last anywhere between 1-5 days after the session. The best and most common practice to remove the potential for DOMS is via some form of post exercise massage or indeed 'Cryotherapy'.

This cold treatment acts as a kind of shock, and thus induces the capillary bed to dissipate any blood lactate via vasoconstriction, decreasing local metabolism and enzymatic activity as well as slowing muscle spindle activity and micro-spasms due to the exercise undertook. Many studies have looked at the benefits and the majority have come back in favour of this kind of treatment however, some might argue that many athletes simply perceive the benefit due to the fact "others are doing it" and advocate pre- and post stretching and contrast showers mentioned earlier.

Without this type of practice and if the athlete were to just sit in a warm bath for recovery the opposite effect would occur, the muscles will not vasoconstrict, rather vasodilate thus

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