Cumulative pre-cooling methods do not enhance cycling performance in tropical climate

performance for TS, TC and RPE, and (2) differences of TS, TC and RPE scores before and after the cycling performance within each condition. For the other variables, repeated measures ANOVAs were globally conducted with Condi- tion as the between-factor and Period as the within-factor. For all statistical analyses below, post-hoc analyses were conducted with Tukey’s HSD test when the application conditions were respected. HR averaged for each 2-min block was analyzed with repeated measures ANOVAs with Condition (i.e., ICE-VEST, MEN-VEST, NO-VEST) as the between-factor and Period (i.e., every 2 minutes from T0 to T30 for the warm-up and from T0 to T20 for the cycling perfor- mance) as the within-factor. Similar statistical analyses were conducted for the distance traveled (m) per 2-min block with Condition (i.e., ICE-VEST, MEN-VEST, NO-VEST) as the between-factor and Period (i.e., every 2 min from T0 to T20) as the within-factor. The total distance traveled (m) over 20 min during the cycling performance and the ΔTgi (during the warm-up and cycling performance) were analyzed with repeated measures ANO- VAs with Condition (i.e., ICE-VEST, MEN-VEST, NO-VEST). Data analyses were conducted using Statistica 12.0 (StatSoft). For all statistical analyses, alpha was set at .05 and effect sizes (ηp2) are indicated. Results Cycling performance For the total covered distance, there was no significant effect of Condition [F(2,10) = 0.41, p = 0.68, ηp2 = 0.08] (Table 1). Regarding the distance traveled per 2-min block (Fig 1),

although no significant effect was found for either Condition [F(2,10) = 0.41, p = 0.68, ηp2 = 0.08] nor the Condition×Period interaction [F(18,90) = 1.57, p = 0.09, ηp2 = 0.24], statistical analyses showed a significant main effect of Period [F(9,45) = 2.34, p = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.32]. Cooling rate The statistical analyses of the cooling rate with ΔTgi showed no inter-condition differences during the warm-up [F(2,10) = 0.81, p = 0.47, ηp2 = 0.14] or cycling performance [F(2,6) = 1.24, p = 0.36, ηp2 = 0.29] (Fig 2). Heart rate For HR (Fig 3), whereas no significant effect of Condition [F(2,8) = 0.05, p = 0.096, ηp2 = 0.01] was observed during the warm-up, repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of Period [F(14,56) = 48.95, p<0.0001, ηp2 = 0.93] and the Condition×Period interaction [F (28,112) = 1.76, p = 0.02, ηp2 = 0.31]. Tukey’s post hoc analysis, on the main effect of Period and Condition×Period interaction, indicated a continuous increase in mean HR during the warm-up for all conditions, from T10 to T26, followed by a decrease to T30 in both conditions (Fig 3A). For the cycling performance (Fig 3B), a significant main effect of Period [F(9,45) = 21.94, Table 1. Means, standard deviations (SD) and confidence intervals (CI) for the total distance traveled. NO-VEST ICE-VEST MEN-VEST Total distance (m) (mean±SD) 13204±500 12830±771 13068±264 95% CI ☯12742; 13666] ☯12117; 13543] ☯12791; 13345] NO-VEST: without vest, ICE-VEST: cooling water vest and MEN-VEST: cooling menthol vest. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291951.t001 PLOS ONE

Tropical cycling performance and cumulative pre-cooling PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291951 October 12, 2023 5 / 15