Heat & Fatigue: Recovery Strategies - Part 1

Heat & Fatigue: Recovery Strategies
Part 1

Parts 1, 2 and 3 follow a World Cup theme and were originally published on LinkedIn. They are now available here as a series exploring heat, fatigue, and recovery strategies in elite sport.

Heat directly affects neuromuscular function. If the body becomes excessively hot, force-generating capacity decreases, which is why teams must implement effective strategies to manage heat exposure. During the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019, water and cooling breaks were introduced to help players manage thermal stress and maintain performance.

As central body temperature rises, central drive decreases. In other words, the brain becomes hotter, affecting performance and decision-making. This is one reason why athletes are often seen using ice towels, cooling strategies, and cold water during competition. Reducing muscle temperature is equally important, as it helps lower metabolic heat and maintain force production.

Metabolic heat increases as exercise intensity and duration rise. Muscles require energy to contract and perform work. While warm muscles generally perform better, excessive muscle temperature eventually causes performance to plateau and can reduce the muscle's ability to contract effectively.

Think of muscle tissue like a rubber band. As it becomes excessively warm and pliable, it loses some of its ability to generate force. Electromyography (EMG) can be used to assess muscle timing, relaxation rates, excitability, and contraction characteristics.

Muscles can also be stimulated to evaluate twitch force and other neuromuscular characteristics, helping practitioners understand how signals travel through muscle and how much force an athlete is capable of producing.

(Dr Emma Ross, 2019)

Neuromuscular function and overall output can be monitored using jump and drop jump assessments. However, these tests do not identify where in the system fatigue is occurring. This is explored further in Parts 2 and 3.