Efeitos da imersão em água fria no desempenho físico e funcional de atletas amadores de judô

Abstract

Cold-water immersion (CWI) is widely used as a recovery strategy in sports; however, evidence supporting its effectiveness in amateur athletes remains limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the acute effects of CWI on the physical performance of amateur judo athletes. Nine practitioners aged 15 to 45 years were evaluated and underwent the Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT) before and after two recovery conditions: CWI (10–15 °C for 10 minutes) and passive recovery (PR) of equal duration. Data on the number of throws and heart rate at each testing moment were collected to calculate the Fitness Index (FI), using equations proposed by the developers of the assessment protocol. No statistically significant differences were observed between the conditions for FI or total number of throws (p > 0.05), indicating that CWI did not produce measurable changes in the athletes’ acute performance. It should be noted, however, that the low technical ranking of most participants and the small sample size may have influenced the outcomes. In conclusion, under the conditions evaluated, CWI did not demonstrate a superior effect compared with passive recovery. Nevertheless, further research with larger samples and athletes of different technical levels is recommended to broaden the understanding of this method’s effectiveness in judo.