The effects of active and passive recovery on blood lactate in collegiate female tennis players.

Purpose: To examine the effects of active and passive recovery on lactate in females and to determine if a relationship exists between power and blood lactate concentration. Methods: Nine (9) female athletes performed two Wingate Power Tests. One test ended with passive recovery, the other ended with active recovery. Lactate was drawn during the recovery periods. From the Wingate Test, power indices were obtained. A t-test and an ANOVA were performed to evaluate differences in active and passive recovery and Pearson’s correlations were used to examine relationships between power and lactate values. Results: Active recovery significantly (p< 0.03) increased lactate removal compared to passive recovery. There were no significant correlations between lactate and power measures. Conclusions: Active recovery increases the rate of lactate removal in females; however, lactate measures are not correlated to the power measures from the Wingate Test.