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Central Washington University

Effects of Pre-Exercise Ice Slurry Ingestion on Physiological and Perceptual Measures in Athletes with Spinal Cord Injuries

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Athletes with spinal cord injuries (SCI) have an impaired ability to thermoregulate during exercise, leading to an increased core temperature (T<sub>core</sub>) due to a decrease in sweat response. Elevated core temperature may result in premature onset of fatigue and decreased athletic performance. Therefore, precooling techniques that decrease T<sub>core</sub> before exercise may increase the storage capacity for metabolic heat production, thereby improving exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pre-exercise ice slurry ingestion as a precooling method in elite athletes with SCI during a match simulation. Employing a field-based, counterbalanced-design, subjects were administered 6.8 g/kg of room temperature (PLB) or ice slurry (IS) beverage during a 20 minute precooling period, before engaging in a 50 and 60 minute on-court training session on day 1 and 2, respectively. Physiological measures, including T<sub>core</sub> and heart rate, and perceptual measures including gastrointestinal and thermal comfort, and rating of perceived exertion, were monitored throughout precooling (minutes 10, 20) and exercise (minutes 10-60). IS had a large effect on T<sub>core</sub> at the midpoint of exercise on day 1 (minute 30) (ES = 0.73) and 2 (minute 40) (ES = 1.17). Independent samples T-tests revealed significant differences in the perception of thermal comfort between IS and PLB at the midpoint of exercise on both day 1 (minute 30) (<em>P </em> = 0.04) and 2 (minute 40) (<em>P </em> = 0.05), indicating that IS helped subjects to feel cooler during exercise. In conclusion, pre-exercise ice slurry ingestion provides an effective means for delaying an increase in T<sub>core</sub> in athletes with SCI.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science (MS)
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Nutrition
Year dc:date.available
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Authors dc:creator
  • Moore, Alexis
  • Pritchett, Kelly
  • Pritchett, Robert
  • Broad, Elizabeth
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Kelly Pritchett
  • Robert Pritchett
  • Elizabeth Broad

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

Language dc:language
English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/955
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1938

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Central Washington University
Base URL
digitalcommons.cwu.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Moore, Alexis; Pritchett, Kelly; Pritchett, Robert; Broad, Elizabeth. Effects of Pre-Exercise Ice Slurry Ingestion on Physiological and Perceptual Measures in Athletes with Spinal Cord Injuries. 2018. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/955