Postexercise Cooling Lowers Skeletal Muscle Microvascular Perfusion and Blunts Amino Acid Incorporation into Muscle Tissue in Active Young Adults.

Purpose: Cold-water immersion lowers muscle protein synthesis rates during postexercise recovery. Whether this effect can be explained by lower muscle microvascular perfusion and a subsequent decline in postprandial amino acid incorporation into muscle tissue after cooling is currently unknown.

Methods: Twelve young males (24 ± 4 yr) performed a single resistance exercise session followed by water immersion for 20 min with one leg immersed in cold water (8°C: COLD) and the contralateral leg in thermoneutral water (30°C: CON).