The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in an Fe48Rh52 alloy and Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3 manganite was studied in cyclic magnetic fields. The adiabatic temperature change in the Fe48Rh52 alloy for a magnetic field change (ΔB) of 8 T and a frequency (f) of 0.13 Hz reaches the highest value of (ΔTad) of −20.2 K at 298 K. The magnitude of the MCE in Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3 reaches ΔTad = 6.1 K at the same magnetic field change at 143 K. The temperature regions, where a strong MCE is exhibited in an alternating magnetic field, are bounded in both compounds. In the case of the Fe48Rh52 alloy, the temperature range for this phenomenon is bounded above by the ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition temperature in the zero field condition during cooling. In the case of the Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3 manganite, the temperature range for the MCE is bounded below by the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition temperature in zero field during heating. The presence of these phase boundaries is a consequence of the existence of areas of irreversible magnetic-field-induced phase transitions. It is found that the effect of long-term action of thousands of cycles of magnetization/demagnetization degrades the magnetocaloric properties of the Fe48Rh52 alloy. This can be explained by the gradual decrease in the size of the ferromagnetic domains and increasing role of the domain walls due to giant magnetostriction at the ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition temperature. The initial magnetocaloric properties can be restored by heating of the material above their Curie temperature. © 2016 Author(s)