Assessing the Efficacy of Various Practical Cooling Protocols in Athletes

The human body has temperature-regulating mechanisms working to maintain body core temperature around 37°C. This ensures optimal bodily function. Disruption to core temperature however, initiates a cascade of events to return to baseline. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of cooling strategies to induce the fastest reductions in core temperature. The study was set up as a randomized field study. Core temperature was measured using an E-Celsius core temperature capsule. Environmental conditions were measured using a Kestrel heat stress tracker. Following completion of a heat-stress protocol, participants underwent one of the four randomized cooling protocols. These cooling protocols consisted of: 1) wearing an ice vest (18°C), 2) applying an icy towel directly to the back of the neck (24°C) in combination with hand/forearm water immersion (15°C), 3) a combination of ice vest, icy towel and hand/forearm water immersion, or 4) sitting in a thermoneutral room (20°C). In all cooling interventions, participants consumed 16oz of an ice slurry (0°C) within 10 minutes of the initiation of the protocol. The control group consumed only room temperature water- ad libitum. A total of 10 active males (25 ± 3 years old) reported no difference between baseline body core temperatures after each heating intervention (P=0.23). Average core temperature and heart rate differed, though not statistically significant between treatments (P>0.05). No significant differences were noted between cooling rates (P=0.51). Skin temperature (Tsk) average and decrement was found to be statistically significant (P<0.001).