Essentials: Increase Strength & Endurance with Cooling Protocols | Dr. Craig Heller

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Awesome conversation, thanks all. 1. You get a tremendous shock when you go into the cold, which produces adrenaline. You stimulate vasoconstriction so difficult for the body to get heat. Avenues for heat loss are soles of the feet, palms of hands and upper part of face. 2. Taking a cold shower before going on a long run on a warm day is beneficial as it takes you longer to heat up and get to the sweat point. Could increase your speed or let you go further. For anerobic core temperature will not go up, muscles temp will go up. 3. Drinking some ice water will help after you have been doing lots of reps. Using a cold towel on your neck will cool the brain (however you are still not cooling down quickly). When cycling don't grip handlebars tightly, take hands off sometimes will allow you to do more work, no gloves. Keep hands open when running. 4. Pour water over the head to cool the brain. (decreases swelling). 5. Touch your hands to see how warm they are (or someone else touch them), if they are warm you are cooling, if they are cold then you are not. People getting triple performance gains by cooling hands (palms) during workouts - moderate cooling, not extreme cooling. Applying cold to soles of feet, upper face, palms far better cooling than groin, underarm or back of neck. New technology coolmitt is available.

¡Hola Profe!Such a relevant conversation. In our climate "palmer cooling" is a "game changer",so it is taking a cold shower before heading outside for a run or a walk.Thank You for all Your hard work and care for all of us.

Great !❤ Can you do some episodes on migraine ?

Great topic and great guest. Thank you. Please do an episode on migraines!!

💖💖💖 don’t feel like plunging this morning AT ALLLLL. But now I have to 🫶🏼

I discovered Wim Hof five years ago, started cold exposure, and never stopped. It’s been one of the best habits I’ve ever built.

Summary of the Video: 🧊 Why Cooling Matters for Performance Heat buildup limits performance: During exercise, especially anaerobic activity, muscle temperature rises faster than core temperature, leading to fatigue. Cooling specific body areas—palms, soles of feet, and upper face—can dramatically improve endurance and strength by efficiently dissipating heat. 🔬 Practical Cooling Techniques Pre-cooling before workouts: Taking a cold shower before a run delays overheating and sweating, allowing longer and faster performance. Intra-workout cooling: Use cold towels on the neck or pour water over the head to cool the brain. Drinking ice water between sets helps maintain performance. Palm cooling: Holding a cooling device or immersing hands in cool water during rest intervals can triple performance gains. Avoid gloves during workouts; open palms allow better heat dissipation. 🧠 Brain & Recovery Benefits Cooling the upper face and neck helps reduce brain swelling and fog. Cooling during workouts can reduce soreness and speed up recovery. 🛠 Tools & Innovations CoolMitt: A device designed to cool the palms effectively without extreme cold. Moderate cooling is more effective than extreme cold (e.g., ice baths), which can inhibit training adaptations.

Please discuss Gout and uric acid on your next podcast, thanks so much!

Great stuff! Since November 2025, I have been holding a cold bottle of water into the sauna. It seems to improve my sauna trips, and I seem to have a higher tolerance of heat over the 30 minutes in the sauna. I have also held a cold bottle of water during my runs to help me running in the summer. This is scientific, but I hope by this summer, I can run better in the heat. I love to run the cold, but the heat has had terrible affects to me on the run. Thank you for everything that you do Dr. Huberman!