Effects of active recovery on various physiological systems vs. passive recovery in respect to both endurance and anaerobic exercise

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AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Effects of active recovery on various physiological systems vs. passive recovery in respect to both endurance and anaerobic exercise. 

            While the common wisdom from locker room coaches is that a cool down period after running is beneficial and helps reduce soreness, there has been little scientific evidence presented by these “trainers” that show what exactly active recovers (AR) does, how it helps (or hinders) recovery and performance, and when it should be used. AR is fundamentally different from passive recovery (PR) in its approach. While PR would be considered sitting, lying prone or supine, or even just standing, AR is usually light jogging or walking, or bicycling; upper body AR is sometimes used, especially if the initial fatiguing exercise involves mostly or entirely upper body muscles.  

            The effect of AR on lactate has been well documented. The overwhelming results of the studies were that in both aerobic or endurance exercises2, 4, 6, 12,18, and maximal or anaerobic exercises12, 19, 22, some form of active recovery showed significant benefits in lactate removal. However, the effect of lactate removal itself is questionable as to whether it actually has performance benefits. Studies have shown that high levels of lactate did not have significant effect on maximum effort performance1, or on series of exhaustive exercises22. Given the limited number of studies that actually measured performance in relation to lactate levels, it cannot yet be said that AR plays no role in performance. Quite to the contrary, despite the evidence that lactate removal may not play an important role, numerous studies have shown performance increases due to AR. Performance increases in successive endurance4, 6, power7, 10, 19, exhaustive exercises22, and sports exerices9 show that AR does play a significant role in performance. These findings could be due to the fact that while reduction in the lactase molecule itself may not increase performance, a normalization of pH through lactate buffering and removal may be the missing factor influencing performance. A normalization in pH during AR has been shown in several studies15, 17, 21 to be superior in its effect than PR.  

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AR has many other benefits over PR besides performance enhancement. A decrease in the post-exercise Free Fatty Acid (FFA) rise has been observed5, 20. This could be due, in part, to the continued use of FFA for fuel during the AR. White Blood Cell (WBC) counts are normally lowered during PA after exercise, and AR has been shown to reduce that drop3, 20. Several cardio-pulmonary benefits have been observed as well. Heart rate reduction and venous return from muscles11 are improved with AR. AR was also shown to not interfere with pulmonary gas kinetics14 after exercise. Skin blood flow, sweat rate, and ...

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Effects of active recovery on various physiological systems vs. passive recovery in respect to both endurance and anaerobic exercise
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    AS and A Level
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    Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)
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