The pre-workout cooling routine …

[James holden]

keep this in mind for those who like to start off or be warm when moving … if yr warm on the move yr about to overheat …

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/endurance-training/Central-Cooling.html

American cyclist Peter Stetina, a two-time national champion who rides for team Garmin-Cervélo, recently adopted one of the sport’s more bizarre pre-race rituals: freezing his butt off. Before the starting gun, Stetina will drink slushies from the team’s support vehicle, wear ice packs, and drape himself in wet towels. “I try to get myself as cold as possible,” says Stetina. “That way I don’t overheat as fast.” He’s not alone. In an effort to control body temperature, cyclists, triathletes, runners, and even race-car drivers have taken to slugging bottles of ice ­water, covering their arms in Liquid Ice (a menthol cream that cools the skin), blasting fans in their faces, even draping ice-filled panty hose around their necks.

The basic principle is simple: Most people’s central organs—specifically the liver, kidneys, and intestines—rise above 101 degrees during exercise. When that happens, water and blood begin to leave your muscles and race to the skin in an attempt to cool you down. This depletes the muscles of oxygen and dehydrates them, causing fatigue. Yet while most athletes reach the 101-degree threshold after just 20 to 30 minutes of exercise, recent studies have shown that cooling beforehand can delay the process significantly.

“Endurance athletes who precool can keep their body temperature below that threshold and perform at their highest level 10 to 20 percent longer than those who don’t precool,” says Stacy Sims, a Stanford University sports physiologist who works with a number of professional athletes and is one of the nation’s top authorities on thermoregulation.

While testing the effects of hydration on core temperatures last year in ­Hawaii, triathlete Craig Alexander, who has won the Ironman World Championship three times, most recently in October, says he was able to improve performance simply by keeping his body cool. To do that, he drank cold water and slushies, then swallowed a microscopic thermometer and tracked his core temp on a handheld device. “The thing I noticed most,” says Alexander, “is that you don’t dehydrate as quickly, because you’re just not sweating as much.”

If this all seems obvious, it should: NASA confirmed the science as far back as 1986. But the sports community, usually keen to embrace any new (even unproven) theory in order to gain an edge, was slow to react. Icing was for after the race. Recent studies demonstrating just how dramatic the effect is, however, have rapidly changed minds in the endurance community, and now the freeze frenzy is spreading. In August, Sims published a report showing that athletes who do power sports—activities like weight lifting or rock climbing—also benefit from precooling. She found that people given water chilled to 40 degrees were able to jump as much as 15 percent farther than when they’d ingested room-temperature water. In another study, published last June by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), researchers found that the head, forearms, inner thighs, and neck are the places that respond best to external cooling. That study also found that cooling vests, a popular device now offered by a number of companies hoping to cash in on the cooling craze, are worthless. “They don’t work,” says Aitor Coca, a physiologist with the CDC, “because the best way to cool the core from the outside is by cooling areas with blood vessels close to the surface of the skin.”

That makes sense to Jeff Louder, a cyclist on the BMC Racing Team. He thermoregulated his core through 100-degree temperatures at the 2008 Commerce Bank International Championship, a bike race in Philadelphia, by “putting ice right on my groin, basically right on the femoral artery, so that cool blood was being pumped directly into my core.” Louder says it made riding in hellish conditions feel comfortable.

None of this is to say you won’t break the 101 barrier eventually. It’s inevitable, in fact, during longer races. Coca says it’s fairly easy to tell whether your core is too hot. In the summer you’ll experience profuse sweating, fatigue, and worsening cognition; in the winter you’ll deal with cold skin and swollen red hands. Sims has also developed a test for runners and cyclists looking for another use for their heart-rate monitors. “If your heart rate has remained steady or gone up, but your wattage on your bike or your running pace has gone down, you’re probably overheating,” she says. “It’s time to cool off.” Her recommendation? “A slushie works great.”

[Jake D]

remember this is done WHILE warming up. doesn't mean sit in on ice then jump into activity.. that is an injury waiting to happen.

just watch before TDF or whatever time trials they are all wearing ice vests and have fans on while warming up on trainers.

[James holden]

just warm up while moving in the morning … unless yr on some crazy hard technical climb, its no different that doing a few jumping jacks …

the trick is to stay cool while moving ;)

[Jake D]

True… but you're also not going to overheat right off the bat either so i don't really get how this applies to most backpackers. Mostly you have to cool off throughout the day in hot areas.

[James holden]

I see people bundle up all the time in order not to be "cold" when starting

Once they get "warm" theyve already sweated through a layer or two

To sweat in winter is to die as them eskimos used to say

[Bob Gross]

There is an old Sierra Club motto that works here.

Bundle up _before_ you get cold, and strip down _before_ you get hot.

–B.G.–

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Wow.

It's only walking.

[Jake D]

I try to start out riding and hiking slightly chilly. I know once i'm moving I will warm up. Luckily between my hobbies of climbing, biking and hiking i have a ton of multiple layering clothes so finding a good combo isn't hard.

arm warmers, hat, liner gloves/ shell mittens. all work wonders while you warm up and you can shove them in a pocket until you stop and can pack them away.

but once again your article has nothing to do with hiking.

only place i could see the stuff they talk about is either ultra stuff in the desert, supported record type speed hiking etc. not for normal hikers. keep trying though Eric.. maybe one day you will find a message board that you will make some sense on. :)

[James holden]

Well jake

I dont know anyone who can snow shoe up fairly steep hills dor hours without overheating eventually … Do you

The simple premises is to start off cool and stay cool as long as possible

Its quite easy to spot the guys and gals who practice this … Even in winter they start off with very little on ..

This site has more than "normal" hikers, whatever that is …

Maybe one of these days u wont resort to personal attacks ;)

[Jake D]

I guess you will need to start freezing your gummie bears then.

[Chad Miller]

I start out hiking chilled in the winter and with heavy exertion and minimal clothing (base layer, buff for the head and neck)I can still overheat if I don't stop every so often.

Then again I am typically breaking trail with snowshoes through 48" of snow.

[Chad Miller]

Oh Eric, what Jake said wasn't a personal attack. You simply rarely make sense when you post here.

I think you're just a bit upset because much like on RC.com and backpacker.com people here have realized you generally don't know what you're talking about.

[James holden]

go find my supposed "posts" on backpacker chad … yr simply lying ,,,

making stuff up about what other people supposedly post on "other" forums … im sure thats what you think this forum is for and all about ;)

all my supposed posts at backpacker …

[Chad Miller]

Like I said in another thread where you posted this screen shot:

Post up a screen shot of your trolling account that was removed by admins at BP.com.

Post up a screen shot of your account at RC.com.

[James holden]

chad miller

i want you to post up the evidence of any "prior" accounts from backpacker.com … or any evidence at all

you are making libelous statements on a public forum … you have clearly stated that i have made posts on backpacker.com and continue to insist on it … you have made statements about fictional accounts .. these statements are all a matter of public record

please provide any evidence of any such phantom imaginary accounts

you are lying plain and simple … i will say this on a public forum

i expect you to continue with the personal attacks over and over again … and your libel

thank you

[BlackHatGuy]

Kids,

Can't y'all take this elsewhere? I mean, really, enough is enough. We get it, you don't like each other. But can't you please take this elsewhere? BPL doesn't yet have a "Mudslinging' forum.

[Chad Miller]

Edit to add:

Looks like Doug beat me to it. What I said below still stands though.

You have an account on RC.com.

You had and account on BP.com prior to the one you registered in 2011. That prior account was removed by admins and the user (you) where banned for a period of time for not following the terms of use of that site.

As for what I'm saying is libel, you are incorrect. For my statements to be considered libel they have to be:

1. Knowingly be untrue.
2. Cause damage to your reputations that causes financial or physical damages to you.

My stating that you're not being truthful about having an account that was banned by admins at BP.com is neither of those.

Now in a good faith and to continue the flow of conversation on this site I make a pledge to no bring up your past bad behavior as long as you treat the members of this site with some humanity and respect. Stop trying to act like the big guy here on BPL just because you don't have the ability to do so on RC.com.

If you'd like to continue to debate this let's do it via PM as I'm sure people here are sick of hearing us argue.

I'm done.

[James holden]

chad miller

you have stated publicly over and over again that i have made posts and have fictionary accounts on backpacker.com

you are clearly lying plain and simple

please produce evidence of such … these are plainly false accusations and libelous

many people here i suspect are on backpacker.com … if any of them can provide such evidence i invite them to do so ..

none will exists because you simply made it up … i am accusing you publicly of lying and making false accusations over my supposed posts and accounts on backpacker.com

my rockclimbing.com statements and account is a matter of public record

thank you

doug … i dont normally care but this is a personal attack about making imaginary accounts and posts… its a straight out lie and he knows it … ill leave it at that …

[Roger Caffin]

Tone it down a bit guys. This is about walking.
Too much abuse may get everyone banned for a while. I haven't the time to try to work out who is 'right' and who is 'wrong'. When the abuse starts, everyone is wrong.
And I can be quite arbitrary too.

Cheers
Roger Caffin
Online Community Monitor
Backpacking Light

[Franco Darioli]

I'm with Piper on this one…
Yesterday I was discussing food on the trail with a couple that were playing with one of my tents.
At some point "calories" was mentioned.
I told them that I have no idea of how many calories I consume nor do I care, but I have a pretty good idea about what to take to keep me happy for the walk duration.
Franco

[Dave T]

"none will exists because you simply made it up … i am accusing you publicly of lying and making false accusations over my supposed posts and accounts on backpacker.com"

We don't care. Take your trolling and chaff back to one of the many OTHER internet forums upon which you endlessly post and argue.

[Author]

Posts