Abstract
Inter-set peripheral cooling can improve high-intensity resistance exercise performance. However, whether foot cooling (FC) would increase 1 repetition maximum (RM) lower-limb strength is unclear. This study investigated the effect of intermittent FC on 1 RM leg press strength. Ten recreational male lifters performed three attempts of 1 RM leg press with FC or non-cooling (NC) in a repeated-measures crossover design separated by 5 days. FC was applied by foot immersion in 10 °C water for 2.5 min before each attempt. During the 1 RM test, various physiological measures were recorded. The results showed that FC elicited higher 1 RM leg press strength (Δ [95% CI]; Cohen’s d effect size [ES]; 13.6 [7.6–19.5] kg; ES = 1.631) and electromyography values in vastus lateralis (57.7 [8.1–107.4] μV; ES = 0.831) and gastrocnemius (15.1 [−3.1–33.2] μV; ES = 0.593) than in NC. Higher arousal levels (felt arousal scale) were found in FC (0.6 [0.1–1.2]; ES = 0.457) than in NC. In conclusion, the preliminary findings, although limited, suggest intermittent FC has a potential ergogenic role for recreational athletes to enhance maximal lower-limb strength and may partly benefit strength-based competition events.
Highlights
A paired t-test showed that the heaviest weight lifted for all three attempts in the foot cooling (FC) condition was significantly higher than that in the NC condition
The primary findings of this study confirmed our research hypothesis that a significant increase in 1 repetition maximum (RM) leg press performance is due to intermittent FC
We further found that FC magnified the root mean square (RMS) EMG values of GS while the resistancetrained participants exerted their maximal effort compared with NC, considering that the pronounced GS activation by FC has not been observed in a previous study that instructed resistance-trained participants to perform leg press exercise below 90% 1 RM [14]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Lower-limb muscle strength is crucial in strength and power sports [1]. Individuals who possess greater lower-limb muscle strength are often capable of eliciting superior power abilities, including various jumping capacities [2,3], acceleration [4], and sprint time [3,4]. These may facilitate broad aspects of sports performance
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