Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25144598›Full record

Trial reportJournal of athletic training

Importance of airflow for physiologic and ergogenic effects of precooling.

Shawnda A Morrison, Stephen Cheung, James D Cotter

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of athletic training. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Precooling via immersion in COTemperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2024
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Effects of a Head-Cooling Cap on 5-Km Running Performance in the Heat.International journal of exercise science · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Individualized estimation of human core body temperature using noninvasive measurements.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2018
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Shawnda A MorrisonUniversity of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Stephen Cheung
James D Cotter

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

contextCooling the body before exercise (precooling) has been studied as an ergogenic aid for many thermal conditions; however, airflow accompanying exercise is seldom reported.

objectiveTo determine whether the physiologic and ergogenic benefits of precooling before endurance exercise may be negated with semirealistic airflow in hot conditions.

designCrossover study.

settingClimate-controlled chamber in a research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER

participantsTen fit, healthy cyclists. INTERVENTION(S): After a familiarization trial, participants completed 4 randomized, counterbalanced sessions consisting of no precooling versus precooling and no fan airflow versus airflow (~4.8 m/s) during exercise. Precooling was via chest-deep immersion (~24 °C) for 1 hour or until core temperature dropped 0.5 °C. Participants then cycled at 95% ventilatory threshold in a hot environment (temperature = 30 °C, relative humidity = 50%) until volitional exhaustion, core temperature reached >39.5 °C, or heart rate reached >95% of maximum. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Thermal strain was assessed via core temperature (esophageal and rectal thermistors) and mean skin temperature (thermistors at 10 sites) and cardiovascular strain via heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion.

resultsEndurance time (28 ± 12 minutes without precooling or airflow) increased by 30 ± 23 minutes with airflow (~109%; 95% confidence interval = 12, 45 minutes; P < .001) and by 16 ± 15 minutes with precooling (~61%; 95% confidence interval = 4, 25 minutes; P = .013), but it was not further extended when the strategies were combined (29 ± 21 minutes longer than control). During cycling without precooling or airflow, mean core and skin temperatures were higher than in all other trials. Precooling reduced heart rate by 7-11 beats/min during the first 5 minutes of exercise, but this attenuation ended by 15 minutes.

conclusionsMost laboratory-based precooling studies have (inadvertently) overestimated the extent of the physiologic and ergogenic benefits for typical athlete-endurance situations. Precooling increases work capacity effectively when airflow is restricted but may have little or no benefit when airflow is present.

Indexed as

AthletesAdultBody TemperatureBody Temperature RegulationCold TemperatureCross-Over StudiesExerciseExercise TestFatigueFemaleHealthy VolunteersHot TemperatureHumansMalePerceptioncardiovascular strainconvectioncoolingenduranceexercisethermoregulation

Identifiers

PMID25144598
PMCPMC4208867

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.