Abstract
Purpose: Heat training can be implemented to obtain performance improvements in hot and temperate environments. However, the effectiveness of these interventions for team sports during discrete periods of the season remains uncertain.Methods: We compared the effects of a short pre-season heat training intervention on fitness and thermal tolerance. In a counterbalanced crossover design, eleven state-level male football players undertook 6 × 60 min sessions in HEAT (35°C, 50% RH) and TEMP (18°C, 50% RH) conditions over 12 days. Running performance pre- and post-intervention was assessed via the Yo-Yo Interment Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1), and thermal adaptation using a submaximal (4 × 4 min @ 9–13 km·h−1) treadmill heat stress test in 35°C, 50% RH.Results: Running distance increased by 9, ±9% in HEAT (standardized mean, ±90% confidence limits) and 13, ±6% in TEMP, the difference in the mean change between conditions was unclear (0.24, ±0.64 standardized mean, ±90% confidence limits). Irrespective of training interventions, there was an order effect indicated by a substantial 476 ± 168 m increase in running distance between the first and final YYIR1 tests. There were trivial to small reductions in heart rate, blood lactate, RPE and thermal sensation after both interventions. Differences in mean core and skin temperature were unclear.Conclusions: Supplementary conditioning sessions in heat and temperate environments undertaken in addition to sports-specific field-based training were effective in enhancing player fitness during the pre-season. However, few clear differences between HEAT and TEMP conditions indicate conditioning in the heat appeared to offer no additional benefit to that of training in temperate conditions.
Highlights
Physiological, thermoregulatory and performance benefits associated with repeated heat exposures are well-documented (Sawka et al, 1996; Périard et al, 2015)
When the magnitude of the standardized effect crossed the threshold of ±0.2 the change or difference was deemed unclear. Both HEAT and TEMP conditions yielded small to moderate improvements in Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1) level and total distance covered after six training sessions (Table 1)
The differences in mean change between the conditions were unclear for both level and distance covered
Summary
Physiological, thermoregulatory and performance benefits associated with repeated heat exposures are well-documented (Sawka et al, 1996; Périard et al, 2015). Total exposure time among short-term regimes involving team-sport players (both consecutive and non-consecutive) ranges from 135 to 324 min (Sunderland et al, 2008; Petersen et al, 2010; Kelly et al, 2016; Gollan et al, 2017; Philp et al, 2017; Duvnjak-Zaknich et al, 2018) These short-term regimes are noticeably shorter than traditional medium- to long-term protocols varying between 450 and 900 min (Nielsen et al, 1993; Lorenzo et al, 2010; Chalmers et al, 2014)
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