56 - Paralympian Erica Gavel

​If you're an endurance athlete of colour and want to take us up on our offer to help you in this sport, please get in touch.  And if you like the show, please support us!9:15 Erica’s study on the effect of using a menthol mouth rinse on cycling time trial performance in female athletesOne prior study in males suggested efficacy, but there were no studies on females in the literatureStudy aimed to simulated women’s road TT (30k) in hot and humid conditions expected in the Tokyo OlympicsParticipants rinsed their mouths with 30mL of menthol solution every 5k of the TTAverage decrease in time to completion of the TT was 2.5%13:30 the mechanism of action of the mouth rinse is not very well understood, but thought to be related to the perception of effort16:15 effects of the mouth rinse on other physiological metrics:Average mechanical power increased compared with controlWith power held constant, RPE was lower than the control18:45 earlier study on male cyclists saw a similar magnitude of effect21:00 use of progesterone-based IUD contraceptive devices did not appear to blunt the effects of the mouth rinse21:30 alcohol-free mouthwash is a good commercial source of menthol26:15 the central governor model of performance may explain effects of psychological ergogenic effects of mouth rinses and motivational self-talk among other techniques29:30 the role of a positive attitude in sports and life31:00 the path from a grad study to adoption at the olympic level of competition34:00 thermal regulation for wheelchair rugby36:36 para athletes do not sweat below the site of the spinal lesion, making thermal regulation much more difficult42:00 there are many opportunities to make a real difference in the paralympic space46:45 para athletes are like every other athlete: it’s all about performance within your unique limitations