Improve Your Training and Racing With CORE HEAT
Mammals use a sophisticated thermoregulatory system designed to keep their core temperature at just the right level. One famous experiment by the Mythbusters shows that their hands and faces get cold after swallowing wireless thermometers, but their core temperatures don’t fall.
When an athlete’s core temperature crosses a certain threshold, their power and pace decline. This is known as Heat Strain and it’s a key consideration in effective training.
Know Your Temperature Thresholds
Having accurate, real-time core body temperature data at your fingertips can massively improve your training and racing. Precise awareness of your temperature thresholds can help you avoid heat stress and push to the limits while staying safe.
Our bodies are like little furnaces that continuously put out heat to keep us alive. But if you’re feeling extra hot, your body is trying to tell you something’s wrong. For instance, if you’re feeling hotter than usual it means that the amount of heat being produced is outpacing your ability to cool down and sweat. This can lead to heat exhaustion.
Core body temperature is measured in different ways, the traditional gold standard being BM CORE HEAT a catheter examination in the heart. But for non-invasive measuring, the mouth or ear is generally used as a reference point. But these sites are prone to many factors such as hot or cold beverages, ambient temperatures, and even mouth-breathing that may impact the true reading. Taking a rectal measurement has been shown to be a more accurate measurement of core body temperature.
When your peripheral temperature is too low, the brain sends signals to conserve heat by narrowing the blood vessels, or to produce more internal heat by shivering. This can lead to hypothermia, which is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. Similarly, a high peripheral temperature can indicate the onset of fever.
Cool Down at Just the Right Time
As a cyclist, you likely have heard the old saying “Train Hot, Race Cold”. With CORE HEAT, it’s now possible to track temperature trends and implement cooling strategies at exactly the right moment during your ride. Maximize your power and endurance and get to the finish line strong with confidence.
Several studies [47, 48] have reported that pre-cooling reduces perception of effort and time to exhaustion during exercise by masking the thermal load. However, the effect of this may be dependent on the level of fitness and experience of the participant. Athletes with a higher level of fitness and experience could see less benefit from pre-cooling, but the benefits are still real.
Maximize Your Power and Endurance
For athletes to perform at their best in hot conditions, they must be able to track their core temperature and understand how it impacts power and pace. This is why it’s common to see professional athletes pouring water over themselves or wearing breathable gear during races. Until recently, accurate body temperature monitoring was limited to expensive, invasive technology such as e-pills and rectal probes.
Athletes train by slowly increasing their workload during a heat ramp test to help condition the muscles to perform at the desired rate when it’s hot out. This is a process known as “acclimation” or CORE HEAT “acclimatization”. Acclimation improves performance by elevating the muscle’s maximum capacity for heat production, and it reduces the time to fatigue when exercising in hot conditions.
One study found that acclimatized athletes had a lower resting core temperature, greater blood plasma volume and an increased sweat rate. These changes are the primary factors that increase an athlete’s tolerance to exercise in high temperatures.
The CORE sensor allows athletes to track their muscle and core temperatures during training and race preparation, enabling them to understand the impact of temperature on performance. The real-time data is displayed on the CORE app and compatible sports tech devices, so athletes can stay in their “Heat Training Zone” and avoid getting too hot, which can negatively impact performance and lead to heat stress.