Discussion
PBC, pain
PBC
The main finding of this study was that a PBC session increased running time to exhaustion, showing an improved performance at 110% of MAS after a single PBC session compared to a control condition. Further, RPE was significantly reduced after the PBC in each split of the 3000-m continuous running test at the second ventilatory threshold, suggesting that both central and peripheral mechanisms could be affected by PBC. Partially unexpected, no other differences were found in the two different conditions for other performance or psychological measures.This study showed a potential implication in adopting this relatively new technique before running performance in a moderate-temperature condition. To date, an abundance of evidence demonstrated the favorable use of PBC as a recovery modality after high intensity exercise for athletes. Researchers have identified how PBC can improve recovery post-exercise by maximizing anti-inflammatory and decreasing pro-inflammatory actions [Reduction in pain could be easily linked to a decrease in perception of effort, a master regulator of performance in endurance exercises [Physiologically, the reduction of perception of effort could be explained by the modification of peripheral afferent signals generated by PBC, that could play a crucial role in changing the perception of effort during exercise at low- and high-intensity [No other changes were observed in the other physiological and psychological parameters. Our results are in line with previous studies that have shown no change in performance, recovery, soreness perception parameters [We must certainly highlight how the great variability of the measures is a factor to consider in the interpretation of the results. It is known that the coefficient of variation of the TTE is large. Despite constant-work test has a much lower coefficient of variation, with amateur athletes we must also consider the variability generated by pacing behavior. Hinckson and Hopkins [An important limitation of the present study is the lack of cardiovascular and physiological measures that compared the effects of the exposure to the PBC itself. Defining cardiovascular changes will be crucial for the assessment of the efficiency of PBC in sport.Since the implementation of cryostimulation prior to competition is relatively recent [