John Stutz
May 9th, 2006, 10:12 PM
I can't tell you how exciting Denver is . So as I pass the time in my hotel room, I thought I would introduce an interesting article I discovered on my flight over here.
Bear in mind, this is not an endorsement. I simply was perusing Southwest Airlines' in-flight magazine ([I]Spirit, May 2006) and happened across an article in their Fitness section. Actually, the article was their fitness section. But I thought it might be particularly interesting to the fit/bb community.
The article discussed the phenomenon of Rapid Thermal Exchange (RTX) which quickly cools down the body's core temperature using a rather spiffy device. I obviously can't reprint the entire article, but here are two paragraphs from it (begging Spirit's forgiveness in advance)
Not long after this, a Stanford postdoctoral student wondered if the same mechanism could be used to cool the body. Vinh Cao, a life science research assistant who was also a bodybuilder, offered to be the test subject. After six weeks of tests, the researchers found that if Cao used a cooling machine between sets, he could do set after set of pull-ups with no loss of performance. It was as if he had no fatigue. In the first six weeks, his capacity went from 100 to 180 pull-ups a session. During the second six weeks, he trippled his capacity to more than 600. Robert Weir, head coach of Stanford's track and field team, now uses an RTX device. At the Commonwealth Games, Weir placed third in the discus. His oldest competitor was 14 years younger.
"A lot of muscle fatigue is due to the temperature of the muscle," Heller explains. "If you can eliminate that overheating and fatigue effect, the body can work out harder and recover more quickly." Cooling mimics steroids because it allows an athlete to recover from intense exertion quickly. It makes it possible to do more in a short time -- without 'roid rage, heart, or hormone problems that have been linked to heavy steroid use. Scientists say it's probably impossible to overuse the RTX. If your body starts to feel too cold, you just pull your hand out.
I looked for a copy of the article from Spirit on the web, but I couldn't find it. Here's a similar article though (http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/julaug/features/cool.html) (Stanford Magazine, July/August 2005). It shares much of the same content as the article I read on the plane. Note that the original research for this device was performed at Stanford, so this article may be more accurate.
If these claims are true, I wonder what type of impact such a device would have in a gym if one were made available to members. The cost of the device seems reasonable for a commercial gym.
Anyway, if you like what you read, please share this thread with other fitness athletes. If you have an opportunity to try one out, I would be interested to hear your personal results. Does anyone train near Stanford? I'd bet they wouldn't turn down a famous fit/bb athlete if you were to walk in and offer to be a test subject!
Bear in mind, this is not an endorsement. I simply was perusing Southwest Airlines' in-flight magazine ([I]Spirit, May 2006) and happened across an article in their Fitness section. Actually, the article was their fitness section. But I thought it might be particularly interesting to the fit/bb community.
The article discussed the phenomenon of Rapid Thermal Exchange (RTX) which quickly cools down the body's core temperature using a rather spiffy device. I obviously can't reprint the entire article, but here are two paragraphs from it (begging Spirit's forgiveness in advance)
Not long after this, a Stanford postdoctoral student wondered if the same mechanism could be used to cool the body. Vinh Cao, a life science research assistant who was also a bodybuilder, offered to be the test subject. After six weeks of tests, the researchers found that if Cao used a cooling machine between sets, he could do set after set of pull-ups with no loss of performance. It was as if he had no fatigue. In the first six weeks, his capacity went from 100 to 180 pull-ups a session. During the second six weeks, he trippled his capacity to more than 600. Robert Weir, head coach of Stanford's track and field team, now uses an RTX device. At the Commonwealth Games, Weir placed third in the discus. His oldest competitor was 14 years younger.
"A lot of muscle fatigue is due to the temperature of the muscle," Heller explains. "If you can eliminate that overheating and fatigue effect, the body can work out harder and recover more quickly." Cooling mimics steroids because it allows an athlete to recover from intense exertion quickly. It makes it possible to do more in a short time -- without 'roid rage, heart, or hormone problems that have been linked to heavy steroid use. Scientists say it's probably impossible to overuse the RTX. If your body starts to feel too cold, you just pull your hand out.
I looked for a copy of the article from Spirit on the web, but I couldn't find it. Here's a similar article though (http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/julaug/features/cool.html) (Stanford Magazine, July/August 2005). It shares much of the same content as the article I read on the plane. Note that the original research for this device was performed at Stanford, so this article may be more accurate.
If these claims are true, I wonder what type of impact such a device would have in a gym if one were made available to members. The cost of the device seems reasonable for a commercial gym.
Anyway, if you like what you read, please share this thread with other fitness athletes. If you have an opportunity to try one out, I would be interested to hear your personal results. Does anyone train near Stanford? I'd bet they wouldn't turn down a famous fit/bb athlete if you were to walk in and offer to be a test subject!