Avery, L, Klaus, A., & Winke, M. (2012). The effects of combined pre-cooling and warm-up on 5-km time-trial performance in male runners. Presentation 995 at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Francisco, California; May 29-June 2, 2012.

Pre-cooling (reducing core temperature) before exercise has been shown to improve endurance performance. However, endurance athletes still perform a warm-up that increases core temperature before exercise. This study compared two combinations (orders of presentation) of pre-cooling and warm-up activities to a control condition before a 5 km time-trial on a treadmill. Trained male runners (N = 7) ran four 5-km time-trials. After a familiarization trial, the following treatments were completed in a randomized balanced order: 1) warm-up/pre-cooling, 2) pre-cooling/warm-up, and 3) a no-activity control. Warm-up consisted of 10 minutes at a predetermined self-selected speed; pre-cooling consisted of 30 minutes of waist-level cold-water immersion (24ºC), and the control condition consisted of 30 minutes of sitting. Core temperatures, heart rates, and ratings of perceived exertion were measured during both the pre-treatment and the 5-km run.

Run time was significantly faster in the warm-up/pre-cooling and control conditions when compared to the pre-cooling/warm-up condition. In addition, five of seven Ss completed the warm-up/pre-cooling condition as their fastest time-trial. Core temperature was lowest in the pre-cooling/warm-up condition. Core temperature differences were dissipated after nine minutes of running. Contrary to previous research, the lowest core temperature was not observed in the trial with the fastest 5-km time. Heart rates and ratings of perceived exertion were not different between conditions.

Implication. When an active warm-up precedes pre-cooling, endurance running performance is enhanced. [However, when no warm-up or cooling was experienced, performances were similar to the best experimental condition. Perhaps pre-exercise activities are not as important for endurance exercises as once thought.]

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