Summary
Rising core temperature limits exercise performance more than muscle fatigue. Palm cooling provides the fastest route to drop core temp, but the temperature must be moderate - ice-cold triggers vasoconstriction and defeats the purpose.
Key Points
- Core temperature rise is a major limiter of exercise performance
- Glabrous skin (palms) provides fastest route to cool core
- Too cold causes vasoconstriction - must use moderate temps
- Effects are immediate and dramatic in research settings
- Heat stroke prevention applications
- Military and athletic applications
Key Moments
Glabrous skin AVAs can accept warmer temperatures too -- discovered via anesthesia research
Craig Heller discovered that the special AVA blood vessels in palms and feet efficiently transfer both heat and cold.
"You can go hotter on the glabrous skin because it takes the heat away faster. We discovered it had nothing to do with the whole arm, it was only the hand."
