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8/19/2019 Pre-Cooling Technology for Endurance Events [Technology Review]
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pre-cooling-technology-for-endurance-events-technology-review 1/2
119
Introduction
he O lym pic and Paralym pics G am es
in B eijing 2008 represented a signifi-
cant perform ance challenge to those
com peting in the endurance events. The B ei-
jing m eteorological Service C entre provided
m ean environm ental data to all nations in
2007. For the m onth of August, this data indi-cated that:
• M ean daily m axim um air tem perature
w ould be betw een 29 and 30°C ;
• Average w ind speeds of approxim ately
2.0m /s;
• Air hum idity averaging around 74 - 79%
At a high am bient tem perature and hum id-
ity, there is a general consensus that the
environm ent is likely to have a detrim ental
effect on perform ance w hen com pared to
less therm ally stressful conditions. O ne inter-
vention used to help reduce the im pact of
such a scenario is a pre-cooling strategy
w ith the aim of increasing heat storage
capacity and greater w ork capacity during
the event.
Options for pre-cooling
There are num erous m ethods to assist inthe developm ent of a pre-cooling strategy.
The available options include cold w ater body
im m ersion, the use of various cooling / ice
jackets (fluid conditioned system s or phase
change system s), use of evaporation fluids on
the skin, or use of fans, am ong m any others
(for a m ore detailed discussion see Q U O D et
al., 2006). The key driver for the selection of
the right m ethods and strategy often com e
dow n to the practicalities of the environm ent
you are operating in and the athlete’s person-
al preference.
M ore recently, there have been som e
technological breakthroughs in assisting
pre-co oling strateg ies. The C oreC ontrol
(w w w .avacore.com ) system w as devel-
oped und er the prem ise that blood flow
naturally increases through skin regions in
the hands to dissipate heat through spe-
cialised blood vessels. C oreC ontrol
enhances heat extraction throug h theseblood vessels by am plifying local blood
flow using a proprietary com bination of
controlled tem perature settings and a
slight vacuum . It has since b een show n to
provide a b eneficial effect on exercise
endurance at various w orkloads (G R A H N
et al., 2005), see Figure 1.
Training gain
Interestingly, the use of the C oreC ontrol
unit has also been show n to provide som e
training benefits as reported by the m anu-
facturers, som e users and from personal
com m unications. S om e interesting data
em erging suggest that the use of the C ore-
C ontrol unit can increase total w ork capacity
in intensive training bouts. There is also
som e further data, w hich has taken this on
to show that the use of the unit provides a
chronic training gain through constant useabove and beyond norm al training scenar-
ios. H ow ever, evidence of any m echanism s
for these effects has not been presented in
the individual case studies.
It w ould seem that there is enough insight
to w arrant a system atic investigation, using
tight controls and highly trained individuals
w ith long training histories, to further
assess and und erstand the underpinning
science and confirm the perform ance pos-
sibilities.
© by IAAF
23:4; 119-120, 2008
Pre-cooling technology
for endurance events
T
TEC HNOLOG Y REVIEW
New S tudies in Athletics • no. 4/2008
8/19/2019 Pre-Cooling Technology for Endurance Events [Technology Review]
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pre-cooling-technology-for-endurance-events-technology-review 2/2
Summary
In therm ally stressful environm ents, such as
those w e have w itnessed at the recent sum -
m er O lym pic G am es, pre-cooling has been
suggested as a potential strategy to help
m anage decrem ents in perform ance. There
are a num ber of potential m ethods to support
this concept ranging in cost and practicality.
O ne of the m ore technologically focused andadvanced m ethod is the C oreC ontrol system .
In addition to its potential in this situation,
there m ay also be the potential for use as a
novel training device to enhance return from
training effort and consequent training gain
through the sam e process.
Please note: The author has no com m ercial
involvem ent w ith any of the com panies or
products m entioned in this article.
Reported by S cott Draw er
Scott Drawer, PhD, is a consultant to the
Research & Innovation Unit at UK Sport in
Great Britain. He can be contacted at
New S tudies in Athletics • no. 4/2008
Pre-cooling technology for endurance events
120
Figure 1: The CoreControl cooling unit (www.avacore.com)
G R AH N , D .A.; C AO , V.H . & H ELLER , C .H . (2005). H eat
extraction through the palm of one hand im proves aerobicexercise endurance in a hot environm ent, JA P, 99, 972-
978
Q U O D , M .J.; M AR TIN , D .T. & LA U R SEN , B . (2006). C ool-
ing athletes before com petition in the heat: com parison oftechniques and practical considerations. Sports M edicine,
36 (8), 671-682.
REFERENCES