FEMALE AND MALE RECREATIONAL ATHLETES WANTED for a Passive Heat Stress as a Recovery Modality Study at Texas Tech University, Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management.
Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a singular bout of passive heat stress on markers of recovery in response to fatiguing exercise
Eligibility requirements: 1. Recreationally active individuals 2. Are between the ages of 18-35 years old 3. Females are eumenorrheic. Subjects will be excluded from the study if they meet any of the following criteria: History of lower limb surgery, Acute lower limb injury limiting current physical activity, Chronic health problems that affect your ability to thermoregulate (disorders affecting the liver, kidneys or the ability to sweat normally), History of cardiovascular and metabolic, or respiratory disease that restrict performing high intensity exercise, Currently taking a medication that is known to influence body temperature (amphetamines, antihypertensives, anticholinergics, acetaminophen, NSAIDs, aspirin), Have a history of heat related illness, Have a history of neuromuscular dysfunction, Have used hormonal contraceptives ≥ 3 months prior to recruitment, or Are less than 110 pounds.
You will be asked to complete 13 visits across 15 weeks, equating to about 14 hours in total. At each visit, a spot urine sample will be collected to ensure that you are hydrated. During Visit 1, you will perform familiarization of the functional fatiguing exercises, which include downhill running on a treadmill, drop jumps off of a box, push-ups, and pull-ups, and neuromuscular equipment via an isokinetic dynamometer, electromyography, and injury assessment test. During Visits 2, 6, and 10, you will first perform baseline outcome measures, which include thermal imaging of upper and lower body musculature, heart rate variability assessment, a venous blood draw, perceptual and sleep surveys, range of motion testing, injury assessment testing, maximal voluntary contractions on an isokinetic dynamometer, countermovement jumps, and a submaximal graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer. Next, you will be randomly allocated to an experimental group: Post-sauna bathing, Pre-sauna bathing, or No-sauna bathing. Sauna bathing involves entering a steam sauna pod for the full-body sauna bathing protocol, which involves 60-min passively sitting in 44?, 99% relative humidity. During Visits 3-5, 7-9, and 11-13, you will perform the same outcome measures again. These visits are at 24-, 48-, and 72-hrs post experimental visits. During all sauna bathing, core temperature will be continuously monitored via a rectal probe. An Oura ring will be provided to you to wear during your sleep to measure HR variability and recovery via sleep monitoring. You will wear it during the study visits only and will not have the ring during the washout periods. A dietary food record will be provided to track your food consumption during the study visits.
Compensation will be provided for the completion of this study. You will receive a total of $100. You will receive $25 if you complete visit #2 then drop out, $50 if you complete visit #6 then drop out, $75 if you complete visit #10 then drop out, and finally, paid the full $100 if you complete all visits.
Your participation is completely voluntary and there are no direct benefits for your participation. It is possible that you will experience musculoskeletal injury, exercise-induced muscle cramps, or delayed onset muscle soreness. It is possible that you will strain a muscle, sprain a ligament or tendon, or incur a stress fracture in a bone. It is possible you may become dehydrated during the sauna bathing, but fluid will be provided ad libitum throughout the entire session. Other possible risks include, although very unlikely, a disturbance of heart rhythm or sudden cardiac arrest, risk of symptomatic exertional heat stroke, inconvenience of rectal thermometry due to any discomfort you may have with insertion, removal, and movement with the device, and survey fatigue.
For more information, contact Marcos Keefe at makeefe@ttu.edu to schedule an information meeting.
This study has been approved by the Human Research Protection Program at Texas Tech.
