Effects of recovery type after a kickboxing match on blood lactate and performance in anaerobic tests

Purpose: To verify whether active recovery (AR) applied after a kickboxing match resulted in better performance in anaerobic tests when compared to passive recovery (PR).

Methods: Eighteen kickboxers volunteered to participate on a Kickboxing match preceded and followed by anaerobic tests: squat jump (SJ), the counter movement jump (CMJ) and the upper-body Wingate test. Blood lactate (BL), heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were analyzed before and after rounds. The recovery sessions consisted of 10min at 50% of maximal aerobic speed or PR. BL was measured at 3, 5 and 10 min after the match, while HR, RPE and anaerobic power were assessed after the recovery period.

Results: BL, HR and RPE increased significantly (P<0.001) during the match. BL was lower (P<0.001) after AR compared to PR at 5 min and 10 min (e.g. AR: 8.94 ± 0.31 mmol.l(-1), PR: 10.98 ± 0.33 mmol.l(-1)). However, PR resulted in higher (P<0.05) upper-body mean power (4.65 ± 0.5 W.kg(-1)) compared to AR (4.09 ± 0.5 W.kg(-1)), while SJ and CMJ were not affected by the recovery type.

Conclusion: The lactate removal was improved with AR when compared with PR, but AR did not improve subsequent performance.