Effect of a precooling maneuver on body temperature and exercise performance.

Twelve subjects exercised to exhaustion at an ambient temperature of 18 degrees C on a bicycle ergometer with the load being stepwise increased. On one day, exercise was preceded by a precooling maneuver. In the precooling tests, deep body temperature attained values of about 1 degree C lower than in the control tests. There was no indication of metabolic cold defense reactions being evoked throughout the exercise period. In the precooling tests, heart rate was significantly lower than in the controls, but the mean maximum work rate, peak oxygen uptake (VO2), time to exhaustion, and total work were not reduced, i.e., work rate and VO2 were increased for a given heart rate. In the three subjects with the lowest maximum work rates, total work and exhaustion time and, in two cases, maximum work rate were increased after precooling. The onset of sweating occurred at higher work rates but at lower core, mean skin, and mean body temperature after precooling. However, the accumulated sweat secretion was considerably smaller after precooling, indicating less thermoregulatory effort.