The Effect of Time of Day on Cold Water Ingestion by High-Level Swimmers in a Tropical Climate

Abstract

The authors tested the effect of cold water ingestion during high-intensity training in the morning vs the evening on both core temperature (TC) and thermal perceptions of internationally ranked long-distance swimmers during a training period in a tropical climate. Nine internationally ranked long-distance swimmers (5 men and 4 women) performed 4 randomized training sessions (2 in the evening and 2 in the morning) with 2 randomized beverages with different temperatures for 3 consecutive days. After a standardized warm-up of 1000 m, the subjects performed a standardized training session that consisted of 10 × 100 m (start every 1′20″) at a fixed velocity. The swimmers were then followed for the next 3000 m of the training schedule. Heart rate (HR) was continuously monitored during the 10 × 100 m, whereas TC, thermal comfort, and thermal sensation (TS) were measured before and after each 1000-m session. Before and after each 1000 m, the swimmers were asked to drink 190 mL of neutral (26.5 ± 2.5°C) or cold (1.3 ± 0.3°C) water packaged in standardized bottles. Results demonstrated that cold water ingestion induced a significant effect on TC, with a pronounced decrease in the evening, resulting in significantly lower mean TC and lower mean delta TC in evening cold (EC) than in evening neutral (EN), concomitant with significantly lower TS in EC than in EN and a significant effect on exercise HR. Moreover, although TC increased significantly with time in MN, MC, and EN, TC was stabilized during exercise in EC. To conclude, we demonstrate that a cold beverage had a significant effect on TC, TS, and HR during training in high-level swimmers in a tropical climate, especially during evening training.

Precooling does not Enhance the Effect on Performance of Midcooling with Ice-Slush/Menthol

“…In addition, a lower RPE in the run segment of the triathlon might be particularly advantageous, making the combined strategy more effective than the internal midcooling strategy alone. The attenuated rise in T co observed in swimmers when they absorb cold water could be considered as internal precooling for the subsequent cycle segment, and would thereby lead to reduced RPE at the end of cycling [15]. Consequently, triathletes would start running with a lower RPE.…”

The effect of local cryotherapy on subjective and objective recovery characteristics following an exhaustive jump protocol

“…Commonly used cryotherapy procedures consist of external applications, such as cold packs,5 ice cuffs,6 cold air,7 ice sprays,8 cold-water immersion (CWI),9 whole-body cryotherapy chambers,10 whole-body cryochambers using liquid nitrogen,11 cooling vests,12 or any other combination of these methods, as well as cold-water ingestion 13,14. The latter procedure has resulted in conflicting results 15,16…”

Nutrition Considerations for Open-Water Swimming

“…The ingestion of substantial volumes (6.5-7.5 g/kg BM) of ice slurries in the 30 min before exercise has been shown to improve endurance capacity and performance during terrestrial exercise (Ihsan et al, 2010;Siegel et al, 2010Siegel et al, , 2011Burdon et al, 2013). An investigation undertaken in a group of elite open-water swimmers demonstrated that ingestion of cold water significantly reduced core temperature and thermal sensation, particularly during an evening training session, in a warm pool (29 °C; Hue et al, 2013). The physiological mechanisms of such strategies are explained elsewhere .…”