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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]

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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 

scott.drawer@uksport.gov.uk

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