title: Sprint performance under heat stress: A review.
abstract: Training and competition in major track-and-field events, and for many team or racquet sports, often require the completion of maximal sprints in hot (>30 °C) ambient conditions. Enhanced short-term (<30 s) power output or single-sprint performance, resulting from transient heat exposure (muscle temperature rise), can be attributed to improved muscle contractility. Under heat stress, elevations in skin/core temperatures are associated with increased cardiovascular and metabolic loads in addition to decreasing voluntary muscle activation; there is also compelling evidence to suggest that large performance decrements occur when repeated-sprint exercise (consisting of brief recovery periods between sprints, usually <60 s) is performed in hot compared with cool conditions. Conversely, poorer intermittent-sprint performance (recovery periods long enough to allow near complete recovery, usually 60-300 s) in hotter conditions is solely observed when exercise induces marked hyperthermia (core temperature >39 °C). Here we also discuss strategies (heat acclimatization, precooling, hydration strategies) employed by "sprint" athletes to mitigate the negative influence of higher environmental temperatures.
authors.affiliation: ISSUL, Institute of Sport Sciences, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Girard
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brocherie
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D004326:Drinking; D018882:Heat Stress Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Hyperthermia; accelerated runs; fatigue; heat acclimatization; repeated-sprint ability; sprinting; temperature; thermoregulation