title: Effects of three postexercice recovery treatments on femoral artery blood flow kinetics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to compare the kinetics of muscle leg blood flow during three recovery treatments following a prolonged exercise: contrast water therapy (CWT), compression stockings (CS) or passive recovery (PR).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen men came to the laboratory three times to perform a 45-min exercise followed 5 min after by a standardized 12-min recovery treatment in upright position, alternating between two vats every 2 min: CWT (cold: ~12 °C to warm: 36 °C), CS (~20 mmHg) or PR. The order of treatments was randomized. Blood flow was measured using Doppler ultrasound during the recovery treatments (i.e., min 3, 5, 7 and 9) in the superficial femoral artery distally to the common bifurcation (~3 cm) (above the water and stocking).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blood flow was significantly higher during CWT (P<0.01; +22.91%) and CS (P<0.05; +15.26%) than during PR. Although no statistical difference between CWT and CS was observed, effect sizes were larger during CWT (large) than during CS (moderate). No changes in blood flow occurred in the femoral artery between hot and cold transitions of CWT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  During immediate recovery of a high intensity exercise, CWT and CS trigger higher femoral artery blood flow than PR. Moreover, effect sizes were greater during CWT than during CS.
authors.affiliation: EA3920 Marqueurs Pronostiques et Facteurs de Régulations des Pathologies Cardiaques et Vasculaires, Plateforme Exercice Performance Santé Innovation, SFR FED 4234, Université de Franche‑Comté Besançon, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ménétrier
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mourot
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Degano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouhaddi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Regnard
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tordi
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006875:Hydrotherapy; D008297:Male; D020127:Recovery of Function; D053828:Stockings, Compression; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult