EFFECTS OF HOT AND COLD WATER IMMERSION ON VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGIATE MALE ATHLETES

C. Welbon, S. Carlson & S. SpearsDakota State, Madison, SD Athletes across the globe are measured by how explosive they are in competition. Usually the most powerful specimen will come out victorious. One of the easiest and most effective ways to measure power in a human being is by performing the vertical jump test. However, the vertical jump can be impacted by a variety of conditions. PURPOSE: To examine of the effects of hot-water immersion (hot tub) and cold-water immersion (cold tub) prior to a vertical jump test. METHODS: Twenty-four male athletes volunteered to participate in this study. Each subject performed the vertical jump test after each 20-minute intervention (hot tub, cold tub, and control). A brief warm-up was performed after the intervention and prior to the vertical jump test. The testing sessions were separated by at least 24 hours. A repeated measure analysis of variance (rANOVA) was used to determine the differences between the 3 vertical jump measurements. RESULTS: The statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the vertical jumps after the 3 interventions, p \u3c 0.001. Post hoc analysis revealed that the vertical jump after the hot tub was significantly higher than after the cold tub, p \u3c 0.001; and the control, p=0.0227. In addition, the control vertical jump was significantly higher than after the cold tub, p \u3c 0.001. CONCLUSION: The results revealed that pre-heating the lower body before explosive movements may help performance. Although pre-cooling may benefit athletes during endurance events, it will hinder athletes during explosive movements such as a vertical jump. NACSM Professional Sponsor: Scott Staige