## 4 Discussion  
The purpose of this study was to examine how the IBP condition consisting of continuous alternation between 30-s IBP and a supine position for 5 min would help physiological and psychological recovery after intense running relative to active (walking) and passive (sitting) recovery methods. While walking is a commonly recommended method [10; 31] and sitting is considered as a control, we were interested in comparing these existing and frequently practiced methods to a recovery condition containing IBP. During the initial 5 min of the recovery period, the IBP was effective in reducing the  
blood lactate and heart rate to levels similar to the active and passive conditions. In other words, the IBP condition produced an effect similar to that of the active condition in blood lactate with less energy expenditure. This observation suggests that the recovery condition including IBP could be an alternative recovery strategy after a short bout of intense exercise. Since blood lactate removal is dependent on the amount of blood flow to working muscles, and the process is facilitated by muscle contraction [17], performing IBP could be beneficial for individuals who need a fast recovery while minimizing energy consumption. The IBP and active (walking at a speed of 5 to 6 km/h) strategies in this study reduced blood lactate by 32% (9.8 to 6.7 mmol/L) and 27% (9.4 to 6.9 mmol/L), respectively, at 5 min postexercise (post-run 0 min). The effects of recovery strategies with active movements [10; 31; 32], chemotherapy [33], and massage [31] were previously reported. Comparable corresponding values at similar time points in other studies included a 19% (14.9 to 12.0 mmol/L) reduction with a 5-min treadmill run (at 50% of maximal speed) [32] and a 49% (3.9 to 2.0 mmol/L) reduction with 6 min of motor level electrotherapy (at 9, 8, and 7 Hz for 2 min each via 8 electrodes) [33]. At 10 min postexercise (after subjects had finished a 5-min static stretch in our study), blood lactate was reduced by 45% (9.8 to 5.4 mmol/L) and 53% (9.4 to 4.4 mmol/L) in the IBP and active conditions, respectively. Other studies reported reductions of 40% (14.9 to 8.9 mmol/L) with a 10-min treadmill run (at 50% of the maximal speed) [32], 51% (11.7 to 5.7 mmol/L) with a 10-min free style swim (at 65% of each individual's best 200-m front crawl swim velocity) [31], and 39% (11.6 to 7.1 mmol/L) with a 10-min massage (using the effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, and compression techniques) [31]. As indicated by these indirect comparisons at 5 and 10 min postexercise, our IBP condition (a combination of the 5-min IBP and static stretch) appears to be as effective as other recovery activities. Although not directly measured, we believe that the effect of the IBP could have been attributed to hemodynamic changes similar to those of using compression garments [34; 35]. According to men's and women's Taekwondo Kyorugi schedules at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, the rests between matches ranged from 360 min to less than 60 min. In the Asian Games in Jakarta\(-\)Palembang in 2018, the rest times in the men's fencing epee ranged from 80 min to 175 min. During such short time periods, a recovery activity enhancing a rapid blood lactate removal with minimal energy expenditure would contribute to the performance in the subsequent match. Because all of the comparable recovery strategies reported require an electrical device [33], massage personnel [31], or to expend more energy [31; 32], our method with IBP could be the best option. Although the blood lactate values in the three conditions in our study became similar at 20 min postexercise, IBP is still beneficial because it resulted in a longer time to rest with a low blood lactate level. Fatigue perception did not differ among the three recovery conditions at each time point. Previously, electrotherapy (motor level stimulation via 8 electrodes) and the passive (sitting on a chair) recovery method reduced perceived exertion by 46% and 38% compared with active recovery, respectively [33].