Ice slurry ingestion does not enhance self‐paced intermittent exercise in the heat

This study aimed to determine if ice slurry ingestion improved self‐paced intermittent exercise in the heat. After a familiarisation session, 12 moderately trained males (30.4 ± 3.4 year, 1.8 ± 0.1 cm, 73.5 ± 14.3 kg, V ˙ O 2max 58.5 ± 8.1 mL/kg/min) completed two separate 31 min self‐paced intermittent protocols on a non‐motorised treadmill in 30.9 ± 0.9 °C, 41.1 ± 4.0% RH . Thirty minutes prior to exercise, participants consumed either 7.5 g/kg ice slurry (0.1 ± 0.1 °C) ( ICE ) or 7.5 g/kg water (23.4 ± 0.9 °C) ( CONTROL ). Despite reductions in T c (Δ T c : −0.51 ± 0.3 °C, P  < 0.05) and thermal sensation prior to exercise, ICE did not enhance self‐paced intermittent exercise compared to CONTROL . The average speed during the walk ( CONTROL : 5.90 ± 1.0 km, ICE : 5.90 ± 1.0 km), jog ( CONTROL : 8.89 ± 1.7 km, ICE : 9.11 ± 1.5 km), run ( CONTROL : 12.15 ± 1.7 km, ICE : 12.54 ± 1.5 km) and sprint ( CONTROL : 17.32 ± 1.3 km, ICE : 17.18 ± 1.4 km) was similar between conditions ( P  > 0.05). Mean T sk , T b , blood lactate, heart rate and RPE were similar between conditions ( P  > 0.05). The findings suggest that lowering T c prior to self‐paced intermittent exercise does not translate into an improved performance.