Intermittent Palm Cooling’s Impact on Resistive Exercise Performance

Abstract

To examine palm cooling's (15 °C) impact, subjects performed 3 four-set leg press workouts in a randomized sequence. Per workout they received 1 of 3 treatments: no palm cooling, palm cooling between sets, or palm cooling between sets and post-exercise. Dependent variables were examined with three-way ANOVAs; average power underwent a three-way ANCOVA with body fat percentage as the covariate. Simple effects analysis was our post hoc and α=0.05. Left hand skin temperatures produced a two-way interaction (no palm cooling, palm cooling between sets>palm cooling between sets and post-exercise at several time points). A "high responder" subset had their data analyzed with an additional three-way ANOVA that again produced a two-way interaction (palm cooling between sets>no palm cooling>palm cooling between sets and post-exercise at multiple time points). Blood lactate results included a two-way interaction (no palm cooling>palm cooling between sets, palm cooling between sets and post-exercise at 0 min post-exercise). Average power yielded a two-way interaction (palm cooling between sets, palm cooling between sets>no palm cooling for the fourth set). Intermittent palm cooling hastened heat removal and blood lactate clearance, as well as delayed average power decrements.

Cooling interventions for athletes: An overview of effectiveness, physiological mechanisms, and practical considerations

“…Intermittent palm cooling between 4 subsets of leg press resistance exercise resulted in a delayed decrement of average power output, resulting in a higher power output in the fourth subset of leg press exercise 62,63 . A potential explanation for this finding may relate to temporarily overriding sensations of fatigue 62 . The peripheral thermal input may result in a lower awareness of effort while using palm cooling.…”

Acute Effects of Intermittent Foot Cooling on 1 RM Leg Press Strength in Resistance-Trained Men: A Pilot Study

“…Peripheral cooling strategies have recently attracted attention given their promising effects on neuromuscular activation [ 7 , 8 , 9 ] and resistance-based exercise performance [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. That is, cooling the joints near exercising muscles, [ 7 , 8 , 9 ] or the extremities (e.g., palms [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ] or feet [ 14 ]) far from exercising muscles rather than cooling the muscle itself may attenuate performance because of reduced muscle temperature below the optimal range [ 15 , 16 ]. Cooling the ankle increases motor neuron excitability as assessed by artificial electrical stimulation [ 7 ].…”

“…Cooling the ankle increases motor neuron excitability as assessed by artificial electrical stimulation [ 7 ]. Resistance exercise studies demonstrated that palm cooling between a four-set, eight-repetition concentric flywheel leg press at a submaximal level of effort hastens blood lactate clearance and delays average power decrements [ 11 ]. In addition, during four sets of 85% one-repetition maximum (1 RM) bench press to exhaustion workout, inter-set palm cooling at 10 °C for 2.5 min increases the repetitions, total exercise volume, and root mean square (RMS) electromyography (EMG) of some exercising muscles for resistance-trained male and female participants [ 12 , 13 ].…”

Per-Cooling (Using Cooling Systems during Physical Exercise) Enhances Physical and Cognitive Performances in Hot Environments. A Narrative Review

“…Furthermore, using an intermittent palm cooling device during a repeated leg press resistance exercise resulted in a higher power output [145,146]. It has been hypothesized that palm cooling allows a lower level of inhibition in the number of activated motor units, which results in a higher power output and number of repetitions [146].…”