> 200% MORE Strength Gains by Keeping Your Hands Cool. Directed by House of Hypertrophy, 2021. YouTube, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AAxNSoTvJ8>. # Keeping you hands cool improves overall muscle performance ^b27ee7 - Excessively hot muscles have a decreased capacity to produce force - The body can reduce muscle temperature by circulating blood to it, dispersing the heat around the body - However, this can only work for as long as the body's whole temperature is not homogeneous - Cooling hand palms and feet soles, due to their vascular structure, is effective at cooling circulating blood, and therefore decreasing muscle temperature and improving muscle performance - Subjects were able to break bench press plateaus using hand cooling protocols - Up to double pull-up repetition performance (13 v 6) compared to control ## Theories 1. Increased core temperature results in decreased nerve signals from brain to muscles 2. Increased core temperature reduces cardiac output, and therefore oxygen supply to the muscles 3. Hot temperatures (40°C) make pyruvate kinase transition to an inactive state. This enzyme plays a crucial role in generating ATP ## Methods - Dip your hand in a bucket of water - Pass an ice pack back and forth between your hands