Influence Of Whole Body Pre-cooling On Thermoregulation And Motor Skill During Simulated Squash Match Play

Abstract

Pre-cooling (PC) enables greater endurance capacity during prolonged continuous exercise. Conversely, even though intermittent exercise produces greater thermoregulatory strain, there appears little benefit from PC before prolonged intermittent exercise. Furthermore, there has been no consideration of the impact PC has on motor skill (MS). PURPOSE To examine the influence of whole body PC on thermoregulatory and MS responses during simulated squash match play. METHODS Six male squash players (22 ± 3 yr, 181 ± 5 cm, 75 ± 4 kg) were pre-cooled for 60 min before performing a skill test (ST 1), a 55 min intermittent shuttle protocol designed to simulate squash MP, and a second skill test (ST 2). Core body temperature was measured using an ingested telemetry sensor and mean skin temperature was calculated using a four site method. By replicating shots performed in a match, motor skill was assessed using accuracy of a squash ball hitting pre-determined targets. Comparisons between conditions were performed using a paired t statistic and simple, standardised effect size (ES). RESULTS Pre-cooling lowered both core body temperature (37.3 ± 1.1 °C vs. 38.2 ± 0.7 °C; p=0.001; ES=1.2) and mean skin temperature (30.0 ± 1.8 °C vs. 31.6 ± 1.4 °C; p=0.001; ES=1.2) during simulated match play. Consequently, rate of heat storage was greater after PC (319 ± 75 W·m-2 vs. 226 ± 64 W·m-2; p=0.047; ES=1.5). Pre-cooling impaired motor skill in ST 1, with reduced outer targets hit (15 ± 4 hits vs. 18 ± 3 hits; p=0.056; ES=0.7) and increased errors (16 ± 6 errors vs. 13 ± 5 errors; p=0.048; ES=0.7). Conversely, motor skill in ST 2 was improved after PC with an increased number of inner targets hit (11 ± 3 hits vs. 8 ± 2 hits; p=0.007; ES=1.1). CONCLUSIONS Whole body PC reduces thermoregulatory strain during squash play and is temporally associated with improved MS at the end of simulated squash match play. Supported by University of Bath Studentship.