Abstract
The thermal discomfort caused by a hot or hot-wet climate can have negative effects on human performance. The 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place in Tokyo’s hot and humid summer period, possibly exposing athletes to severe environmental stressors. In addition to technical, tactical, physical and nutritional preparation, Olympians and Paralympians need an optimal psychological state to turn in their best performances, especially in terms of emotional control, concentration and motivation. Yet, the tropical climate can have many negative effects on these factors. Better understanding of the negative effects of this climate and the strategies to manage them might be crucial for competitors, coaches and their teams in Japan. At the psychological level, cooling interventions before, during and/or immediately after exercise were mainly studied on perceptual responses. However, the effects of these interventions on other psychological components such as cognitive abilities or psychological states and the use of psychological techniques have been little explored, especially in hot-wet climate. Thus, this article proposes to take stock of the knowledge on the conventional and alternative strategies that help athletes to psychologically cope with the subtropical climate of Tokyo.
Highlights
Competing at the Olympic/Paralympic Games requires high level physical, technical, tactical, nutritional, and mental preparation
Most studies are interested in the perceptual responses of heat stress with or without cooling intervention. The effects of these interventions on other psychological components such as cognitive abilities or psychological states, and the use of psychological interventions, are little known, in the tropical climate (i.e., TropC). This brief review deals with the available strategies to cope with the impact of hot and hot-wet climates on perceptual responses and cognitive abilities
The main usual strategies to limit the negative effects of heat or TropC are training in the thermal stress and cooling interventions
Summary
Competing at the Olympic/Paralympic Games requires high level physical, technical, tactical, nutritional, and mental preparation. The effects of these interventions on other psychological components such as cognitive abilities (e.g., reaction time, attention, executive function) or psychological states (i.e., mood, emotional, expectation, and motivational effects), and the use of psychological interventions, are little known, in the tropical climate (i.e., TropC) This brief review deals with the available strategies to cope with the impact of hot and hot-wet climates on perceptual responses and cognitive abilities. In addition to the theoretical interest, this article provides information to coaches on how best to prepare their athletes for the climate conditions of Tokyo 2020 and for the upcoming events (e.g., 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar) To establish this mini-review, citations from Pubmed and Sciencedirect were identified from the earliest record until April 2019 using the following search terms: hot climate, hot-wet climate, strategies, sport, performance, and psychology. All studies without any link or involvement in competitive physical activities were excluded
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