e., following a carbohydrate rich mean, well hydrated). Furthermore, this study design was representative of real-life circumstances, whereby cyclists simply added the precooling strategy to a hyperhydration strategy. In summary, the current study does not support the hypothesis that hyperhydration, with or without the addition of glycerol, plus an established precooling strategy is superior to hyperhydration,
in reducing thermoregulatory strain and improving exercise performance. Despite increasing fluid intake and reducing core body temperature, hyperhydration plus precooling failed to improve performance when compared with the consumption of a large cool beverage prior to the trial. These results indicate that a Selleckchem Etomoxir combined precooling technique (i.e., ice towel application and slushie ingestion) results in minimal performance
benefit over and above the typical real-life pre-race preparations (i.e., consumption of a cold fluid). Further research is warranted in order to examine the influence of fluid temperature and volume on the success of glycerol hyperhydration and precooling strategies, presumably because the control condition, chosen to standardize total fluid intake, also involved a substantial precooling effect. Specifically, further studies could be undertaken selleck chemicals to compare glycerol hyperhydration using a tepid beverage to distinguish the effects of this strategy on fluid status from its thermoregulatory impact and allow separation of the different elements that may underpin a performance change. Acknowledgements Megan
L.R. Ross was the recipient Aspartate of an Australian Postgraduate Award, an Edith Cowan University Research Excellence Award and the RT Withers PhD Scholar Award during the time this manuscript was written. This study was supported by Nestle Australia funding of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Sports Nutrition research activities, and by a grant from the Performance Research Centre, AIS. The significant technical assistance of Dr. Laura Garvican, Mr. Nathan Versey, Mr. Jamie Plowman and Dr. Michael selleck compound Steinebronn are gratefully acknowledged. References 1. Galloway SD, Maughan RJ: Effects of ambient temperature on the capacity to perform prolonged cycle exercise in man. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1997,29(9):1240–1249.PubMedCrossRef 2. Tatterson AJ, et al.: Effects of heat stress on physiological responses and exercise performance in elite cyclists. J Sci Med Sport 2000,3(2):186–193.PubMedCrossRef 3. Thomas MM, et al.: Voluntary muscle activation is impaired by core temperature rather than local muscle temperature. J Appl Physiol 2006,100(4):1361–1369.PubMedCrossRef 4. Nielsen B, et al.: Acute and adaptive responses in humans to exercise in a warm, humid environment.