20 MINUTES OF COOLING DOES NOT ALTER MAXIMAL AEROBIC PERFORMANCE

Dugas, J. P., Mitchell, J. B., McFarlin, B. K., Dewalch, D., & McBroom, M. (1999). The effect of twenty minutes of pre-exercise cooling on high-intensity running performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 31(5), Supplement abstract 1517.

Male runners (N = 6) were cooled with fan-blown misted water for 20 minutes or remained normal before completing a two-minute warm-up exercise. On each occasion, the test exercise was a treadmill run to exhaustion at 100 VO2max in an environmental chamber (38 degrees Celsius, 50% relative humidity).

It was found that the cooling altered thermoregulation but did not affect performance.

Implication. A short period of cooling alters the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms but does not alter predominantly aerobic maximal performance.

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