Therapeutic Modalities on Exercise Performance and Post-exercise Recovery of CrossFit® Athletes

Crossfit® is a training modality that consists in functional movements, constantly varied and executed at high intensity. Both training sessions and competitions involve physically demanding activities, which in addition to being performed at very high intensity also involves the aerobic metabolism pathway. These characteristics led to very high metabolic and muscular stress, as well as decrease in physical performance immediately after competitions and training sessions. The cumulative effects of the metabolic and muscular stress can be a precursor of injuries. Studies using different therapeutic modalities aiming to improve post-exercise recovery are needed in order to tackle this issue.

However, to the date there are no studies investigating the effects of different therapeutic modalities in an exercise modality such as Crossfit®. Therefore, the aim of this project is to assess the effects of different therapeutic modalities on performance and muscle recovery of Crossfit® athletes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Muscle Strength
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Passive recovery; Device: PBMT-sMF; Device: Shock wave; Device: Pneumatic compression

Detailed Description

It will be carried out a randomized, crossover, controlled trial.

Volunteers will be allocated to four interventions, and the order of the interventions will be randomized.

The outcomes will be obtained at baseline (prior to the Workout of the Day - WOD), and in different timepoints after that.

The WOD will be consisted in finishing as quickly as possible a sequence of three exercises (Calories in Assault AirBike®, Hang Squat Clean and Box Jump Over), in a well-known series model for the athletes, without rest.

The investigators will analyze: the maximum number of free squats performed in 1 minute; the activity of creatine kinase (CK); the levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6); the ratings of perceived exertion; and the volunteers satisfaction with the interventions.

All data will be analyzed both in their absolute values and in relation to their percentage variation from the values obtained in the pre-WOD (baseline) assessments.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • São Paulo, Brazil, 01504-001
    • Laboratory of Phototherapy and Innovative Technologies in Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Crossfit® amateur male athletes
• Do not present a history of musculoskeletal injury in the regions of the hips, knees and calves in the month preceding the study;
• Are not using pharmacological agents;
• Athletes should have been practicing the sport for at least 1 year;
• Voluntarily commit to participate in all stages of the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Present musculoskeletal or joint injuries during data collection.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Control; Passive recovery for 30 minutes	Other: Passive recovery; Volunteers laid in supine position resting for 30 minutes.
Experimental: PBMT-sMF; Photobiomodulation therapy combined with static magnetic field, with a total treatment duration lasting for around 30 minutes.	Device: PBMT-sMF; PBMT-sMF applied in the lower limbs with different doses per muscle group.
Active Comparator: Shock wave; Shock wave therapy applied for 30 minutes.	Device: Shock wave; Shock wave therapy applied in the lower limbs for 30 minutes.
Active Comparator: Pneumatic compression; Pneumatic compression applied for 30 minutes.	Device: Pneumatic compression; Pneumatic compression applied in the lower limbs for 30 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in functional capacity	The functional capacity will be assessed through the maximum number of free squat repetitions performed within 1 minute.	1hour, 24 hours and 48 hours after WOD (workout of the day).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the activity of creatine kinase (CK)	The activity of CK will be analyzed from the blood samples collected from the participants through spectrophotometry and using specific reagent kits.	1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours after WOD (workout of the day).
Change in the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6)	The levels of interleukin-6 will be analyzed from the blood samples collected from the participants through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and using specific reagent kits.	1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours after WOD (workout of the day).
Participants' perceived exercise intensity	The perception of exercise intensity will be assessed through a 0-100 Ratings of Perceived Exertion Scale: in this scale lower score, means lower degree of fatigue and higher score, means higher degree of fatigue.	1 minute after WOD (workout of the day), 1 minute post-treatment/intervention, 1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours after WOD.
Participants' satisfaction regarding the interventions	The participants satisfaction regarding the interventions will be assessed through the LIKERT scale	48 hours after WOD (workout of the day).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Nove de Julho
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ernesto Cesar Pinto Leal Junior, Ph.D., Full Professor

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 9, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 10, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): September 10, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 2, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 9, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 14, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 4, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 3, 2024
• Last Verified: September 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 3.997.120-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data will be shared upon request addressed to the principal investigator.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data will become available six months after the manuscript publication for five years after that.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: All IPD that underlie results in a publication will be available on reasonable request.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: Yes
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: Yes