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THE EFFECTS OF BALNEOTHERAPY ON EXERCISE RECOVERY

Abstract

C. Dunn, G. Dickson, H. Reed, S. Wilson, D.E. Lankford, FASCM

Brigham Young University- Idaho, Rexburg, ID

Previous research has mixed results on the effects of balneotherapy on the basis of exercise recovery. PURPOSE: To determine if balneotherapy effects performance of either a 20-minute Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test or 20-minute run test. METHODS: A study comprising 16 participants ranging from 19-45 yrs. was conducted. Participants completed either an FTP cycling test or a 20-minute maximal effort running. Testing was performed in a heat chamber at temperature 27.4±1.61℃and humidity 25.3±4.626%. After exercise testing, subjects were given either a placebo (PLA) or a proprietary blend (PB) of minerals and essential oils to soak. Subjects returned the following day and repeated the exercise testing. The process was then repeated in a crossover design after a minimum 3 days of recovery. Treadmill and cycling group changes in PLA (ΔPLA) distance (miles) pre vs post soak were compared with changes in PB (ΔPB) distance pre vs post soak using a paired t-test. RESULTS: There were no differences in distance for treadmill group between ΔPLA (-0.058±0.317 mi) and ΔPB (0.015±0.116 mi, p=0.686). Additionally, there were no differences in distance for cycling group between ΔPLA (0.020±0.084 mi) and ΔPB (0.200±0.520 mi, p=0.438). CONCLUSION: Balneotherapy does not increase performance over a placebo when completing back to back exhaustive FTP or 20-minute run tests. Future research should consider longer work periods and increased length of study.

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