Effect of internal and external cooling on high‐intensity intermittent cycling performance and cognitive function in the heat

Cowe, S, Cooper, SB ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-5020, Malcolm, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3494-3835 and Sunderland, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7484-1345, 2025. Effect of internal and external cooling on high‐intensity intermittent cycling performance and cognitive function in the heat. Experimental Physiology. ISSN 0958-0670

Preview

Text 2506834_Sunderland.pdf - Published version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

We investigated the effect of internal and external cooling on high-intensity intermittent cycling performance and cognitive function in the heat. Twenty-nine males completed a control trial (CON) and a cooling trial (ice slurry and ice collar; COOL) in the heat (33°C, 50% relative humidity) involving a 40 min intermittent cycling protocol (two sets of ten 2 min stages, each consisting of 5 s sprint, 105 s active recovery and 10 s rest). A battery of cognitive tests was completed pre- and postexercise, with physiological and perceptual responses recorded throughout. No differences in peak or mean power output were found between conditions (all p > 0.05). Average trial rectal (COOL: 37.39°C ± 0.59°C; CON: 37.59°C ± 0.56°C, p < 0.001) and neck (COOL: 28.87°C ± 4.87°C; CON: 32.82°C ± 1.43°C, P < 0.001) temperatures were found to be lower in COOL. Participants reported feeling better and reported lower ratings of thermal sensation and improved comfort in COOL (all p < 0.05). Response times on the Stroop task complex level were quicker over time in COOL (COOL: −48 ± 23 ms; CON: −11 ± 18 ms, p = 0.002) and quicker overall on the number level of Sternberg during COOL (COOL: 434 ± 77 ms; CON: 437 ± 84 ms, p = 0.046). However, over time, the improvement in response times on the number level of Sternberg was greater in CON (COOL: −6 ± 3 ms; CON: −26 ± 2 ms, p = 0.015). Response times became quicker over time to a greater extent in CON on the visual search complex level (COOL: −15 ± 1 ms; CON: −119 ± 31 ms, p = 0.009). The combined cooling intervention did not influence sprint performance and had only a minimal influence on some domains of cognitive function but did lead to improvements in physiological and perceptual responses. These findings provide information on a practical combined cooling method that can be implemented in elite sport.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Experimental Physiology
Creators:	Cowe, S., Cooper, S.B., Malcolm, R. and Sunderland, C.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	27 September 2025
ISSN:	0958-0670
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1113/ep092679 DOI 2506834 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	02 Oct 2025 08:41
Last Modified:	02 Oct 2025 08:41
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54491

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads