Efficacy of the FIFA cooling break heat policy during an intermittent treadmill football simulation in hot conditions in trained males.

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) cooling break policy against alternative cooling configurations in attenuating thermal strain during simulated football in the heat. 12 males (age: 27±6 years, V̇O_2peak: 61±7 mL/kg/min) completed five 90 min intermittent treadmill football match simulations in 40°C and 41% relative humidity (32°C wet-bulb globe temperature) with different cooling configurations: regular match without cooling breaks (REG), 3 min breaks without cooling (BRK_no-cool), 3 min breaks with cooling (BRK_cool: current FIFA policy; chilled fluid ingestion and ice towel across neck and shoulders), 5 min extended half-time without cooling breaks (ExtHT_only) and 3 min cooling breaks with 5 min ExtHT (ExtHT_cool). Rectal temperature (T_re), heart rate, whole-body sweat rate (WBSR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded. Data are presented as mean (95% CIs). Final T_re was lower in BRK_no-cool (0.20°C (0.01, 0.39), p=0.038), BRK_cool (0.39°C (0.21, 0.57), p<0.001) and ExtHT_cool (0.40°C (0.22, 0.58), p<0.001) than REG (39.1°C (38.8, 39.3)). Mean T_re was lower in ExtHT_cool (38.2°C (38.0, 38.4)) than BRK_cool (38.3°C (38.1, 38.5), p=0.018), BRK_no-cool and ExtHT_only (38.4°C (38.2, 38.6), p<0.001) and REG (38.5°C (38.3, 38.7), p<0.001). Mean heart rate was lower during BRK_cool (6 beats/min (4, 7), p<0.001) and ExtHT_cool (7 beats/min (6, 8), p<0.001) compared with REG. WBSR was comparable across trials (p<i>≥</i>0.07) and RPE was attenuated during BRK_cool (0.4 (0.1, 0.7), p=0.004) and ExtHT_cool (0.5 (0.2, 0.7), p=0.002), compared with REG. BRK_cool and ExtHT_cool attenuated thermal, cardiovascular and perceptual strain during a simulated football match in the heat. Additional strategies may be required in field settings or under harsher conditions.