External heating garments used post-warm-up improve upper body power and elite sprint swimming performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of using an electrical heating garment during a 30-min recovery period after a standardized swimming warm-up on subsequent swimming performance and upper body power output. On two occasions, eight male and four female elite competitive swimmers completed a standardized swimming warm-up, followed by a 30-min passive recovery period before completing maximal plyometric press-ups and a 50-m freestyle swim. Plyometric press-ups determined starting strength, peak force and peak concentric power. During the recovery period, participants wore tracksuit bottoms and (1) a standard tracksuit top (CON) or (2) jacket with integrated electric heating elements (HEAT). The overall results demonstrated a trend of a relevant (>0.4%) improvement in the 50-m freestyle performance of 0.83% (p = 0.06) in HEAT versus CON. In male participants, performance in the 50-m freestyle significantly improved by 1.01% (CON 25.18 ± 0.5 s vs HEAT 24.93 ± 0.4 s; p < 0.05), whereas female participants only showed a trend for an improvement of 0.38% (29.18 ± 0.5 s vs 29.03 ± 1.0 s; p = 0.09), in HEAT compared with CON, although statistical power for the latter test was low. Male participants’ starting strength, peak force and peak concentric power were 16.5 ± 13%, 18.1 ± 21% and 16.2 ± 21% greater, respectively, in HEAT compared with CON (all p < 0.01). In conclusion, external heating of the upper body between completion of the warm-up and performance through the utilization of an electrically heated jacket improves plyometric press-up power output and force production, as well as sprint swimming performance in males. This provides justification for future enhancement opportunities in sporting performance through the utilization of external heating systems. Optimization of the heating system for specific sports is required.

Keywords

Muscle temperature swimmers clothing passive heating gender

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Fradkin

Zazryn

Smoliga

JM.

Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24(1): 140–148.

Zochowski

Johnson

Sleivert

GG.

Effects of varying post-warm-up recovery time on 200-m time-trial swim performance. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2007; 2: 201–211.

Bishop

Potential mechanisms and the effects of passive warm-up on exercise performance. Sports Med 2003; 33(6): 439–454.

Russell

West

Briggs

. A passive heat maintenance strategy implemented during a simulated half-time improves lower body power output and repeated sprint ability in professional Rugby Union players. PLoS ONE 2015; 10(3): e0119374.

Racinais

Oksa

Temperature and neuromuscular function. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2010; 20: 1–18.

Faulkner

Ferguson

Gerrett

. Reducing muscle temperature drop after warm-up improves sprint cycling performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2013; 45(2): 359–365.

West

Dietzig

Bracken

. Influence of post-warm-up recovery time on swim performance in international swimmers. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16(2): 172–176.

Mohr

Krustrup

Nybo

. Muscle temperature and sprint performance during soccer matches—beneficial effect of re-warm-up at half-time. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2004; 14(i): 156–162.

Bishop

Warm-up II performance changes following active warm-up and how to structure the warm-up. Sports Med 2003; 33(7): 483–498.

10.

Bergh

Ekblom

Influence of muscle temperature on maximal muscle strength and power output in human skeletal muscles. Acta Physiol Scand 1979; 107(1): 33–37.

11.

Sargeant

AJ.

Effect of muscle temperature on leg extension force and short-term power output in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1987; 56(6): 693–698.

12.

Faulkner

Ferguson

Hodder

. External muscle heating during warm-up does not provide added performance benefit above external heating in the recovery period alone. Eur J Appl Physiol 2013; 113(11): 2713–2721.

13.

Pyne

Trewin

Hopkins

Progression and variability of competitive performance of Olympic swimmers. J Sports Sci 2004; 22: 613–620.

14.

Deschodt

Arsac

Rouard

AH.

Relative contribution of arms and legs in humans to propulsion in 25-m sprint front-crawl swimming. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1999; 80(3): 192–199.

15.

McGowan

Thompson

Pyne

. Heated jackets and dryland-based activation exercises used as additional warm-ups during transition enhance sprint swimming performance. J Sci Med Sport 2016, 19 (4): 354–358

16.

Morouço

Marinho

Marques

. Are dry-land strength metrics and forces exerted in-water related with high swimming velocity in young athletes? In: Sato

Sands

Mizuguchi

(eds) 32 international conference of biomechanics in sports, Johnson City, TN, 12–16 July 2014. International Society for Biomechanics in Sports.

17.

Carl

Leslie

Dickerson

. Bench press and leg press strength and its relationship with in-water force and swimming performance when measured in-season in male and female age-group swimmers. In: XI international symposium, 2010, http://www.nih.no/upload/BMS2010/Documents/BMS2010_BMS_XI_final_lowres.pdf

18.

Cossor

Blanksby

Elliott

BC.

The influence of plyometric training on the freestyle tumble turn. J Sci Med Sport 1999; 2(2): 106–116.

19.

Costa

Bragada

Marinho

. Longitudinal interventions in elite swimming: a systematic review based on energetics, biomechanics, and performance. J Strength Cond Res 2012; 26(7): 2006–2016.

20.

Hopkins

WG.

Spreadsheets for analysis of controlled trials with adjustment for a predictor. Sportscience 2007; 10: 1–5.

21.

Ericsson

Lehmann

AC.

Expert and exceptional performance: evidence of maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annu Rev Psychol 1996; 47: 273–305.

22.

Hogarth

Deakin

Sinclair

Are plyometric push-ups a reliable power assessment tool?

J Aust Strength Cond 2013; 21(1): 67–69.

23.

Cronin

Hing

McNair

PJ.

Reliability and validity of a linear position transducer for measuring jump performance. J Strength Cond Res 2004; 18(3): 590–593.

24.

American Society for Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Chapter 9. Thermal comfort. In: ASHRAE handbook of fundamentals. Atlanta, GA: ASHRAE, 2013, pp. 9.1–9.32.

25.

Havenith

Laboratory assessment of cold weather clothing. In: Williams

(ed.) Textiles for Cold Weather Apparel (Woodhead Publishing in Textiles: Number 93). Oxford; Cambridge; New Delhi, India: Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2009, pp.217–243.

26.

Birrer

The shoulder, EMS and the swimming stroke. J Swim Res 1986; 2(1): 20–23.

27.

De Ruiter

Jones

Sargeant

. Temperature effect on the rates of isometric force development and relaxation in the fresh and fatigued human adductor pollicis muscle. Exp Physiol 1999; 84: 1137–1150.

28.

Wurm

VanderZanden

Spadavecchia

. Kinetic analysis of several variations of push-ups. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 25(10): 2891–2894.

29.

Borg

GA.

Psychological bases of perceived exertion. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001; 14: 377–381.

30.

Hopkins

Marshall

Batterham

. Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exer 2009; 41(1): 3–13.

31.

Carlyle

Effect of preliminary passive warming on swimming performance. Res Q Exerc Sport 1956; 27(2): 143–151.

32.

De Vries

. Effects of various warm-up procedures on 100-yard times of competitive swimmers. Res Q 1959; 30: 11–22.

33.

Raccuglia

Lloyd

Filingeri

. Post-warm-up muscle temperature maintenance: blood flow contribution and external heating optimization. Eur J Appl Physiol 2016; 116(2): 395–404.

34.

Lloyd

Hodder

Havenith

The interaction between peripheral and central fatigue at different muscle temperatures during sustained isometric contractions. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2015; 309(4): R410–R420.

35.

Craig

Pendergast

Relationships of stroke rate, distance per stroke, and velocity in competitive swimming. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1979; 11(3): 278–283.

36.

Toussaint

Beek

PJ.

Biomechanics of competitive front crawl swimming. Sports Med 1992; 13(I): 8–24.

37.

Davies

Mecrow

White

MJ.

Contractile properties of the human triceps surae with some observations on the effects of temperature and exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1982; 49(2): 255–269.

38.

Stein

Gordon

Shriver

Temperature dependence of mammalian muscle contractions and ATPase activities. Biophys J 1982; 40(2): 97–107.

39.

Sharp

Troup

Costill

DL.

Relationship between power and sprint freestyle swimming. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1982; 14(1): 53–56.

40.

Schlader

Simmons

Stannard

. Skin temperature as a thermal controller of exercise intensity. Eur J Appl Physiol 2011; 111(8): 1631–1639.

41.

Havenith

Human surface to mass ratio and body core temperature in exercise heat stress—a concept revisited. J Therm Biol 2001; 26(4–5): 387–393.

42.

Gerrett

Ouzzahra

Coleby

. Thermal sensitivity to warmth during rest and exercise: a sex comparison. Eur J Appl Physiol 2014; 114: 1451–1462.

43.

De Ruiter

De Haan

. Temperature effect on the force/velocity relationship of the fresh and fatigued human adductor pollicis muscle. Eur J Physiol 2000; 440(1): 163–170.