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The effects of lower body passive heating combined with mixed-method cooling during half-time on second-half intermittent sprint performance in the heat

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Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the effects of combined cooling and lower body heat maintenance during half-time on second-half intermittent sprint performances.

Methods

In a repeated measures design, nine males completed four intermittent cycling trials (32.1 ± 0.3 °C and 55.3 ± 3.7% relative humidity), with either one of the following half-time recovery interventions; mixed-method cooling (ice vest, ice slushy and hand cooling; COOL), lower body passive heating (HEAT), combined HEAT and COOL (COMB) and control (CON). Peak and mean power output (PPO and MPO), rectal (Tre), estimated muscle (Tes-Mus) and skin (TSK) temperatures were monitored throughout exercise.

Results

During half-time, the decrease in Tre was substantially greater in COOL and COMB compared with CON and HEAT, whereas declines in Tes-Mus within HEAT and COMB were substantially attenuated compared with CON and COOL. The decrease in TSK was most pronounced in COOL compared with CON, HEAT and COMB. During second-half, COMB and HEAT resulted in a larger decrease in PPO and MPO during the initial stages of the second-half when compared to CON. In addition, COOL resulted in an attenuated decrease in PPO and MPO compared to COMB in the latter stages of second-half.

Conclusion

The maintenance of Tes-Mus following half-time was detrimental to prolonged intermittent sprint performance in the heat, even when used together with cooling.

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Abbreviations

MPO:

Mean power output

COMB:

Combined upper body cooling and lower body passive heating

CON:

Control

COOL:

Upper body cooling

HEAT:

Lower body passive heating

HR:

Heart rate

PPO:

Peak power output

SS:

Single sprint

RPE:

Rating of perceived exertion

RS:

Repeated sprint

T B :

Body temperature

T C :

Core temperature

T es-Mus :

Estimated muscle temperature

T m :

Muscle temperature

T re :

Rectal temperature

TS:

Thermal sensation

T SK :

Mean skin temperature

USG:

Urine-specific gravity

VO2peak :

Peak oxygen uptake

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Funding

No sources of funding were acquired for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sport Physiology, Sport Science and Medicine, Singapore Sport Institute, 3 Stadium Drive, Singapore, 397630, Singapore

    Jacky Soo, Gabriel Tang, Joel Pang & Abdul Rashid Aziz

  2. Physical Education and Sports Science, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Jacky Soo & Gabriel Tang

  3. Physical, Sports and Outdoor Education Branch, Student Development Curriculum Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore, Singapore

    Saravana Pillai Arjunan

  4. Athlete Health and Performance Research Centre, Aspetar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar

    Mohammed Ihsan

Authors
  1. Jacky Soo
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  2. Gabriel Tang
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  3. Saravana Pillai Arjunan
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  4. Joel Pang
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  5. Abdul Rashid Aziz
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  6. Mohammed Ihsan
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Contributions

MI, GT, AR and SA conceived and designed the research. MI, GT, JP and JS conducted the study. MI and JS analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacky Soo.

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Communicated by George Havenith.

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Soo, J., Tang, G., Arjunan, S.P. et al. The effects of lower body passive heating combined with mixed-method cooling during half-time on second-half intermittent sprint performance in the heat. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 1885–1899 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04177-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04177-8

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