title: Body cooling between two bouts of exercise in the heat enhances subsequent performance.
abstract: The purpose was to assess whether body cooling between 2 bouts of exercise in the heat enhances performance during the second exercise session. Using a random, crossover design, 15 subjects (3 women, 12 men; 28 +/- 2 years, 180 +/- 2 cm, 69 +/- 2.3 kg) participated in all 3 trials. Subjects ran 90 minutes on hilly trails in a hot environment (approximately 27 degrees C) before 12 minutes of either cold water immersion (CWI; 13.98 degrees C), ice water immersion (IWI; 5.23 degrees C), or a mock treatment (MT) of sitting in a tub with no water (29.50 degrees C). After immersion, subjects ran a 2-mile race. CWI had faster (p < 0.05) performance time (725 seconds) than MT (769 seconds). CWI and IWI had significantly (p < 0.05) lower rectal temperatures postimmersion than MT as well as postrace (p < 0.05). Heart rate also remained significantly lower (p < 0.05) during the CWI and IWI trials for the first half of the race. In conclusion, CWI enhances performance (6% improvement in race time) in the second bout of exercise, supporting its potential role as an ergogenic aid in athletic performance.
authors: Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors: Susan W
authors: SW
authors: Yeargin
authors: Douglas J
authors: DJ
authors: Casa
authors: Joseph M
authors: JM
authors: McClung
authors: J Chad
authors: JC
authors: Knight
authors: Julie C
authors: JC
authors: Healey
authors: P Josh
authors: PJ
authors: Goss
authors: William R
authors: WR
authors: Harvard
authors: George R
authors: GR
authors: Hipp