effects of cryotherapy and foam rolling recovery methods on performance and muscle damage indices in young male soccer players after simulated soccer match

Background: research is limited on the effectiveness of various post-soccer match recovery methods. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the effects of active recovery methods on performance and muscle damage indices in young male soccer players. methods: in this study, 21 male subjects (age 16.95±2, height 175.29±4, weight 65.99±5) were selected and divided randomly into three recovery groups after a simulated soccer match. foam roller recovery included massaging various muscle groups using a foam roller. recovery by immersion in cold water involved immersing the body up to the neck in cold water at 15 °c. in inactive recovery, the subjects had no activity. the yo-yo recovery test, sargent jump test, 20-m speed test, lactometer, and elisa tests were used to measure the variables of aerobic power, explosive power, speed, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatinine kinase, respectively. a two-way anova test with repeated measures was used to determine the differences at a confidence interval of 95%. results: a significant difference was observed between the foam roller recovery group and the control group 24 hours after the simulated soccer match in muscle damage indices (p value < 0.05). however, in the active recovery group comparison, no significant difference was observed in the performance indices (p value < 0.05). conclusions: it seems that foam rolling recovery can be used as a useful way to accelerate recovery compared to water immersion recovery through a reduction in inflammatory responses.