Improve Your Strength by 100–200% By Keeping Your Hands Cool

A novel way to increase your work capacity and long-term strength gains

Illustration by author.

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Heat is often an under-considered component that plays a role in muscle performance.

Excessively hot muscles have an impaired ability to produce force.

One of the primary ways the body can reduce muscle heat is through circulating blood to the muscle, drawing out the heat, and then dispersing it throughout the body.

But, this process is limited. As the body temperature rises, the circulating blood itself becomes hot. As a result, it is no longer effective at removing heat from the muscle.

There are regions in the body with unique vascular structures that make them an effective area to regulate overall body temperature.

Cooling glabrous skin regions can effectively decrease the temperature of circulating blood.