NCT07297823

Sex Differences in Cold-Induced Changes in Maximal Fat Oxidation

Sex Differences in Cold-Induced Changes in Maximal Fat Oxidation: A Pilot Study

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Colorado State University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this research study is to determine if the cold-induced change in fat burning during exercise is different between females and males.

Detailed description

It is well characterized that females rely more on fat oxidation compared to men during standardized exercise. Exposure to cold during exercise increases fat oxidation in humans. It has been shown that the biological sex differences in substrate oxidation observed during exercise persist in the cold. However, it is unclear if the degree of the effect of cold on substrate oxidation during exercise is different between females and males. The purpose of this study is to determine if the change in maximal fat oxidation that occurs in cold compared to room temperature environments is different between females and males. The hypotheses are 1) females will have greater maximal fat oxidation than males in both conditions, and 2) the change in maximal fat oxidation between the control and cold conditions will be the same in females and males.

Conditions

• Exercise

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Cold temperature	Room temperature will be decreased to 5 ºC
OTHER	Room Temperature	Exercise condition for control arm

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-01-31
• Primary completion: 2026-12-31
• Completion: 2027-06-30
• First posted: 2025-12-22
• Last updated: 2025-12-26