Cool the palms for efficient workout 🏋️♂️🚴♀️
I am not super-fit person, but if I knew this technique earlier, maybe I would’ve been in a better position!
Suppose you were only able to run a mile and couldn’t improve your capacity even though you tried hard. Or you might be able to do 20 pushups in a stretch but would like to do more. Or maybe more weight reps but aren’t unable to achieve it. And top of that, the recovery is becoming difficult..!
What if the science tells a pretty simple technique which can make you to run further, increase the number of pushups/weight reps you could do (up to 2x) and recover faster, come with more energy the next day!
Before telling the technique, it’s better to learn a bit of science underneath it, so you can fine tune according to your needs.
Cold, heat and core temperature
One of our body’s aim is to make sure that our core temperature is within a range (usually 97–99F; 36.1C-37.2C). We have inbuilt mechanisms to make sure that our core temperature won’t deviate much from this range, otherwise we might die of hypothermia (lower body temperature) or hyperthermia (higher body temperature).
Now suppose you are exposed to freezing weather. Technically, heat flows from hot surface (our body) to cold surface (atmosphere). Thus our body temperature reduces faster than normal.
Based on above information, can you deduce whether the blood flow increases or reduces?
Well, it reduces because your body constricts (narrow) the blood vessels to prevent the quick loss of heat and it tries to maintain optimum core temperature. This is known as vasoconstriction.
The same mechanism holds when you are exposed to hot weather. Heat flows to your body quickly than expected, so you need to dump heat, which increases the blood flow, and thus you sweat. This is known as vasodilation.
In short,
Exposed to Cold weather → Environment (external agent) trying to reduce our core temperature as heat transfers from our body to environment → Our body prevents it by reducing blood flow via constricting blood vessels thus not releasing much heat → Vasoconstriction
Exposed to Hot weather → Environment (external agent) trying to increase our core temperature as heat transfers from environment to body → Our body prevents it by increasing blood flow via dilating blood vessels thus releasing heat quickly → Vasodilation
Now, what happens to core temperature when you exercise?
It increases. Simple because we burn calories, the blood flows rapidly to all parts of body and we try to dump heat and sweat eventually.
So, exercise (external agent) → Increases our core temperature. If we do something tor reduce this effect, then we can technically perform better during exercise.
Wait, but why does core temperature matter to performance?
Our muscles play a pivotal role for exercise. In scientific terms, exercise is nothing but the systematic/rhythmic contractions of specific muscles for specific duration. And these contractions work by using enzymes in body which works only at right temperatures (just like computers work only when ACs are present 😝). So,
Exercising (External agent) → Increases core temperature → Disturbs the structure of enzymes → Inefficient muscle contraction → Can’t exercise for a long time.
So, our goal is to reduce the core temperature (negate the effect of exercise on core temperature), so our enzymes can work efficiently, thus allowing us to exercise more proficiently.
How to do that?
Glabrous (non-hairy) skin → Easy passage
Palms of hand, soles of the feet and face doesn’t have hair and the combined trio is known as Glabrous skin. They are good at dumping heat, bringing in cool and reduce the core temperature easily. They are also good at opposite i.e increasing the core body temperature. These are basically easy pathways to access core temperature.
So, by controlling them to release heat (which was generated during exercise) quickly, one can perform longer and better.
But how does these glabrous skin has easy access to core temperature?
Without much biology, the usual blood flow takes a long path. But on the surface of palms, soles of feet and feet lies these so-called AVAs (Arterio-Venous Anastomosis) which are direct connection from small arteries to small veins. This structure makes them to bypass capillaries when passing blood from/to heart. Also, these are also connected to adrenergic neurons which releases epinephrine and norepinephrine and has the capability to contract/dilate the blood vessels.
Now, try to connect the dots!!
Protocol — Cool the palms
So, the protocol is: “Cool your palms regularly during workout session”
Exercising (External agent) → Core temperature rises → Pass cold via glabrous skin → Easy way to contract blood vessels → Reduces the core temperature thus helping enzymes work for better muscle contraction → Efficiency increases.
Note: But don’t cool so much as it constricts the blood vessels and thus reduces efficiency. Try experimenting with different temperatures and it varies from person to person.
Cold bath vs Splashing face with cold water
After reading till here, if you feel like “Ok, cooling is the target. If cooling palms is helpful, lets just do a cold bath”
Well, that’s a mistake!! If you remember from this article, a cold shower actually increases the core body temperature (but our goal is to reduce it)
So, splashing face with cold water, cooling palms >>> Cold bath after exercise if you want to increase your workout performance.
ACs in Gyms (Good for us) — Cardiac drift
“Have you ever wondered why almost every gym has an AC?”
Suppose you are running on a thread mill. Your heart rate will eventually plateau after a point and you will continue to give that throughput for some time. But if the room temperature is increased, the heart rate will increase even though you are not running faster. This is cardiac drift and causes us to stop the workout early. So, workout in hot environment causes us to quit early!
P.S: This might not be a reason for management though!!😐
By reducing core temperature, not only one can workout more, one feels inspired/motivated to workout more.
Acknowledgements and final notes
When it comes about health, it’s obvious to have disclaimers isn’t it! So, here it goes:
- I am not an expert in this field, so don’t take the advice for granted. This blog is inspired from Huberman Podcast (episode 19), an excellent podcast, highly recommend for everyone who wants to learn about science and science based tools for better life.
- The blog might not be scientifically accurate, because I try to explain the concepts in a simple fashion and am a novice in this field. Feel free to message me in LinkedIn, Twitter for corrections/discussions.
P.S: I am trying to make notes for this podcast and some occasional (condensed) blog posts. The detailed notes can be referred here. This notes is not a replacement to Huberman podcast and it’s best used as a reference material. Once again, do checkout the podcast as it’s highly packed with lot of good stuff. It’s available in Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcast etc;