title: Physiological and perceptual effects of precooling in wheelchair basketball athletes.
abstract: To investigate the physiological and perceptual effects of three precooling strategies during pre-exercise rest in athletes with a spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  
  Randomized, counterbalanced. Participants were precooled, then rested for 60 minutes (22.7 ± 0.2°C, 64.2 ± 2.6%RH).
  
  
  
  National Wheelchair Basketball Training Centre, Australia.
  
  
  
  Sixteen wheelchair basketball athletes with a SCI.
  
  
  
  Participants were precooled through; 1) 10 minutes of 15.8°C cold water immersion (CWI), 2) ingestion of 6.8 g/kg-1of slushie (S) from sports drink; 3) ingestion of 6.8 g/kg-1of slushie with application of iced towels to the legs, torso and back/arms (ST); or 4) ingestion of 6.8 g/kg-1of room temperature (22.3°C) sports drink (CON).
  
  
  
  Core temperature (Tgi), skin temperature (Tsk), heart rate (HR), and thermal and gastrointestinal comfort.
  
  
  
  Following CWI, a significant reduction in Tgiwas observed compared to CON, with a greatest reduction of 1.58°C occurring 40 minutes post-cooling (95% CI [1.07, 2.10]). A significant reduction in Tgifollowing ST compared to CON was also observed at 20 minutes (0.56°C; [0.03, 1.09]) and 30 minutes (0.56°C; [0.04, 1.09]) post-cooling. Additionally, a significant interaction between impairment level and time was observed for Tgiand HR, demonstrating athletes with a higher level of impairment experienced a greater reduction in HR and significant decrease in rate of decline in Tgi, compared to lesser impaired athletes.
  
  
  
  CWI and ST can effectively lower body temperature in athletes with a SCI, and may assist in tolerating warm conditions.
authors.affiliation: a Research Institute for Sport and Exercise , University of Canberra , Canberra , ACT , Australia.|b Physiology Department , Australian Institute of Sport , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Peta
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.affiliation: a Research Institute for Sport and Exercise , University of Canberra , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pumpa
authors.affiliation: c Performance Research , Australian Institute of Sport , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: b Physiology Department , Australian Institute of Sport , Canberra , ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D001490:Basketball / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010465:Perception; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D012881:Skin Temperature; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014910:Wheelchairs
keywords: Body temperature regulation; Cooling; Paraplegia; Spinal cord injuries; Thermoregulation