Present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of recovery training programs on VO2 max of basketball players. A sample of Twenty (20) state-level basketball players with age group of 18 to 23 years belong to Birbhum, West Bengal, India were purposively selected as subjects for the study. Further all the subjects were randomly divided into four groups and each group had 05 subjects. Three experiential groups and one control groups were formed i.e., Experimental Group-I (Cold Water Immersion group, CWIG), Experimental Group-II (Massage group, MG), Experimental Group III (Low-Intensity Stretching Group, LISG) and Control Group (CG).

Before beginning the training program all the subjects were informed about the purpose and procedure of the study. Data on VO2max was measured with the help of Queen’s College step test & the score was recorded in milliliters per kilogram per minute (Ml/kg/min) and [VO2 max = 111.33- (0.42 X step test pulse rate, beats/minutes)] equation was used to determine (VO2max) Maximum oxygen consumption before the beginning of basketball match, immediately after the basketball match and after the implementation of recovery training programs on experimental and control groups. Before collecting data and starting recovery program, the purpose of study was explained to all the subjects and participated voluntarily. The experiment was conducted during inter-club basketball tournament at sports authority of India special game centre, Birbhum, West Bengal. Initial pre-data was collected before starting the match then subjects played a full-length basketball match for 40 min thereafter again data was collected, and final data was collected after 15min. of recovery training programs under the proper supervision and guidance of the researchers whereas control group did not participate in any recovery program.

To investigate the effect of three types of recovery programs (Cold Water Immersion Program, Massage Program and Low-Intensity Stretching Program) on VO2 max of state-level basketball players, descriptive statistics, 4 X 3 Mixed (Between-Within) repeated ANOVA was used as the statistical technique and the level of significance was set at 0.05. In case of significant differences, pairwise comparisons were performed after Bonferroni adjustment.

Results of study showed that significant change was found in VO2 max of basketball players after administration of different recovery programs (Massage, Cold Water Immersion & Low Intensity Stretching Recovery Programs). It was very clear from the marginal means of VO2 max, among recovery durations irrespective of groups for the fast and better recovery of basketball players, cold water immersion recovery training program was superior in comparison to other recovery training programs (Massage and Low-Intensity Stretching). The linear significance was found in VO2 max among basketball players after administration of different recovery programs (Massage, Cold Water Immersion & Low-Intensity Stretching Recovery Programs). It may be attributed that the 15 minutes time was appropriate to produce a significant change in VO2 max as result of different recovery training programs.