Why Do Some People Freeze Their Weights Before Exercising?

[curio7]

I know somebody who puts their weights in the freezer before they use them. (photographic proof: http://i41.tinypic.com/24473ow.jpg) I have no clue why they do this, and they refuse to explain the purpose behind the action. Is there any physics related meaning to this action?

Somebody else mentioned that the energy required to warm his hands from the freezing temperature of the weights might mean more calories utilized, but I can't imagine that you would use that many calories to warm your hands.

Any ideas?

 

[Joncon]

Well, cold weights weigh less than warm ones, so he's cheating!

 

[DarioC]

The weights will keep getting wet from condensation, whatever that is worth.

I see they have a large and diversified food supply. Chuckle.

DC

 

[Drakkith]

There is no significant effects that I can think of that would cause someone to do this. Either they heard something somewhere that said it had a benefit, or they just like cold weights.

 

[AlchemistK]

I once saw something like this on discovery. It actually keeps the body temperature from rising and experiments show that it really is effective and increases the time for how long you can keep going.

 

[Drakkith]

I once saw something like this on discovery. It actually keeps the body temperature from rising and experiments show that it really is effective and increases the time for how long you can keep going.

I couldn't find anything on a quick google search, so I'm going to remain skeptical for now.

 

[AlchemistK]

http://corecool.co.uk/FAQ.htm I think that's the thing they had on discovery.

 

[Drakkith]

http://corecool.co.uk/FAQ.htm I think that's the thing they had on discovery.

Now I am highly skeptical.

 

[AlchemistK]

I would've linked the video, but I can't seem to find it. The experiment was that they took a weightlifter as a test subject, made him lift weights till he was exhausted and then in the second run, made him use the "cool core glove" and he managed to keep going a lot longer than before.

I'm positive I've seen it on discovery, and I think that's a reliable source.

 

[Drakkith]

I would've linked the video, but I can't seem to find it. The experiment was that they took a weightlifter as a test subject, made him lift weights till he was exhausted and then in the second run, made him use the "cool core glove" and he managed to keep going a lot longer than before.

I'm positive I've seen it on discovery, and I think that's a reliable source.

I rarely find TV to be a reliable source on anything to do with physics. However I am not saying that it cannot work, I am saying that I don't know if it could work or not and I don't consider the information I've viewed to be reliable. It looks and smells very similar to boloney. Especially the claim that the results of using it work even if you don't use it that day. Everything about the site from the way they explain how it works to the diagrams they show of the body just looks too much like other boloney sites.

 

[petej]

I have no idea why someone would cool weights...Probably getting confused between weight and mass? I am afraid that my physics is a little rusty after coming back to a subject I loved at school at my father's behest but, surely cooling weights would have more to do mass? the cooler something is the more mass it has? Like I said a little rusty so some gentle encouragement in the right direction would be nice.

 

[Drakkith]

I have no idea why someone would cool weights...Probably getting confused between weight and mass? I am afraid that my physics is a little rusty after coming back to a subject I loved at school at my father's behest but, surely cooling weights would have more to do mass? the cooler something is the more mass it has? Like I said a little rusty so some gentle encouragement in the right direction would be nice.

Hotter things have more energy and are thus more massive. However the amount of mass gained by heating something small 50 degrees is so extremely negligible, you would NEVER care about it in this case if you were worried about mass.

 

[AlephZero]

Hotter things have more energy and are thus more massive.

On the other hand, hotter things expand, so the buoyancy force from the air is bigger.

Air buoyancy does matter for precision weighing, but probably not for weight training.

 

[DrewD]

Are they training for ice climbing or mountaineering? Maintaining control of your body while in moderate pain is important for both and there is a long history of carrying snowballs while running and other such physical torture.
There is also a long history of athletes believing completely false information because somebody stronger than they are did it once. I doubt physics has anything to do with this.
(as a side note, muscles do perform better when cool, but your hand muscles are not very important to lifting)

 

[Kieranlavelle]

Well I have happened to notice that people often drop weights when the amount becomes overwhelming I suppose but highly doubt it could be something to do with how much then bounce if he drops them as he may not want them landing on his toe as if they where warmer I think the particles inside the metal would be under higher pressure making it bounce higher. Or I suppose he could just like cold weights as his hands get warm and this stops them from sweating and slipping out of his hands.

 

[AlchemistK]

I don't think this has anything to do with physics, its much more of a biology thing. The effects of temperature on mass,buoyancy, etc etc. would be completely negligible. Even a psychological effect would create much more of a difference than physics, just knowing that its going to help will automatically improve performance.

 

[Kieranlavelle]

I don't think this has anything to do with physics, its much more of a biology thing. The effects of temperature on mass,buoyancy, etc etc. would be completely negligible. Even a psychological effect would create much more of a difference than physics, just knowing that its going to help will automatically improve performance.

I would lean more towards this idea as well as he also refuses to say why so it would seem quite probable that he does not want to sound "silly" by saying it makes him work better.

 

[Drakkith]

I would lean more towards this idea as well as he also refuses to say why so it would seem quite probable that he does not want to sound "silly" by saying it makes him work better.

Agreed.