The Effect of Contrast Therapy in Exercise Recovery: A Meta-Analytical Approach

Abstract

Contrast therapy’s effects have varied across studies, necessitating an examination of its effect size. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the efficacy of contrast therapy on post-exercise recovery through a meta-analysis of exercise performance and physiological variables. Searches were conducted in electronic databases with the keywords "contrast therapy," "exercise performance," and "recovery”. Then articles were screened according to PRISMA guidelines. Fifteen articles were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated significant differences in sprint (g=0.3811, p<.05), muscle soreness (g=0.7192, p<.01), perceived fatigue (g=0.7384, p<.01), and blood CK (g=0.7043, p<.05), demonstrating the effectiveness of contrast therapy compared to passive recovery. However, no significant differences were found in jump (g=0.0866, p=.7083), flexibility (g=0.0585, p=.7531), thigh circumference (g=0.1636, p=.5654), and perception of recovery (g=0.3254, p=.0661), although there was a slight trend favoring contrast therapy over passive recovery. Given this, contrast therapy could be beneficial for sports that involve frequent sprints or repeated high-intensity exercise with short rest periods. Additionally, considering psychological aspects like muscle soreness and perceived fatigue for optimal performance, we believe contrast therapy positively affects post-exercise recovery compared to passive recovery. However, the quality of the studies was low, and there were not as many studies that included contrast therapy for each dependent variable as expected. As more studies are conducted in the future, it is expected that a more in-depth analysis can be conducted by improving the quality of the literature and reflecting various results.