History of AVAcore

We will add more to this area.

Here is some info from 1995 from the Standford Alumni magazine:

Like any athlete, Weir is well acquainted with his normal performance range. Like any athlete, Weir looks for an edge. A few years ago, he was intrigued when he heard about a device—that has been called at various times the RTX, Core Control or simply The Glove—invented by a pair of Stanford biologists. Using the device to lower his core body temperature between sets, he was able to lift 495 pounds in four sets of squats instead of his normal two. He usually does squats only on Mondays, but he decided to try a second series a few days later. That Friday, he was able to increase the weight to 545 pounds. “I was surprised the sets felt so good,” he says, but adds that the real test came the following Monday. Weir, 44, expected to see significant performance degradation due to the extra Friday workout. Not only did he not see the decay, he increased weight with every set. The RTX—for rapid thermal exchange—cooling device “is a very serious piece of equipment,” he says. “At my age, you don’t expect to be setting personal bests during workouts.” He trained with the cooling equipment for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and placed third in the discus. His oldest competitor was 15 years younger.

More from The Effects of Cooling Core Body Temperature on Overall Strength Gains and Post-Exercise Recovery, Standford Undergraduate Research Journal, Spring 2003

The purpose of this study was to determine the benefits of cooling on muscle performance. The hypothesis on which this project was based is that one factor producing muscle fatigue is a rise in temperature of the muscles and core body region. Therefore, intermittent cooling during exercise should lead to a greater increase in maximum power output. With small time intervals between sets of maximum exertion, use of this thermoregulation device should result in significantly lower core temperature during exercise. Lowering core temperature of subjects before exercise should increase performance by limiting central fatigue