The effects of carbonated cold water immersion of the arm during half-time on intermittent exercise performance in the heat.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of half-time cooling via single arm immersion in carbonated water (CO2WI) during intermittent exercise in the heat (34.63 ± 0.49 °C, 54.2 ± 1.8% relative humidity [RH]).

METHODS

Eight male and two female recreational athletes (age: 26 ± 3; height: 176.5 ± 6.2 cm; body mass: 73.3 ± 11.4 kg) completed 2 × 39 min sprint cycling, interspersed by a 13-min single arm cooling (21.79 ± 0.76 °C, 64.5 ± 2.4%RH): (1) cold water immersion (CWI, 9.56 ± 0.60 °C); (2) cold CO2 water (CO2WI, 9.37 ± 0.51 °C); and (3) control condition (CON). Rectal (Tre) and skin temperature (Tsk), heart rate (HR), working memory (serial 7), mean (MPO), peak power output (PPO), thermal sensation, thermal comfort, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and whole-body sweat loss (WBS) were assessed.

RESULTS

During cooling, reduction in Tre was 0.15 °C greater in CWI versus CON only (p = 0.031), and reductions in Tsk were 1.18 °C and 0.38 °C greater in CO2WI versus CON (p = 0.007) and CWI (p = 0.038). When normalised to the first half, percentage decrease in MPO was greater in CON versus CWI by 4.2% (p = 0.055), whereas percentage change in PPO was similar between conditions (p = 0.280). WBS, thermal comfort, thermal sensation, HR, working memory and RPE were similar between conditions (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

CO2WI did not have additional ergogenic effects than CWI. Furthermore, both CWI and CO2WI did not decrease Tre or improve thermal perception appreciably more than CON.