Today we have the honor of interviewing Kyle Sela, CEO of AVA Cooling Technology, a leading performance enhancement company leveraging thermoregulation through palm cooling.
Picture: AVA Cooling Technology
What is Palm Cooling?
Palm cooling is a thermoregulation technique that leverages the body's natural heat exchange mechanisms to enhance performance, delay fatigue, and accelerate recovery. It involves cooling the palms of the hands, which contain specialized blood vessels called arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs) that play a critical role in body temperature regulation.
How Does Palm Cooling Work?
Understanding AVAs (Arteriovenous Anastomoses):
The palms, soles of the feet, and face are covered with glabrous skin, which has a high density of AVAs—specialized blood vessels that help the body regulate heat.
When body temperature rises, these AVAs dilate, allowing blood to flow closer to the skin’s surface for heat exchange.
Heat Exchange Process:
When you grip a properly cooled surface (around 60°F or 15°C), heat from your blood is transferred to the cooler object through conduction.
This heat transfer lowers core body temperature, preventing the rapid fatigue that comes from overheating.
Why Not Ice?
Cooling with ice or extremely cold objects can cause vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels), which reduces blood flow and prevents effective heat exchange.
The ideal temperature for palm cooling is cool, but not freezing—around 60°F—to allow continuous heat offloading without shutting down circulation.
Why is Palm Cooling Beneficial?
Delays Fatigue: Reduces the impact of heat buildup, allowing athletes to sustain high effort for longer.
Enhances Strength & Endurance: Studies have shown that cooling between sets allows athletes to maintain peak performance for more difficult sets or intervals compared to not cooling.
Prevents Cramping & Overheating: Regulating temperature reduces muscle fatigue and mitigates heat-induced cramping.
Improves Cognitive Function: Since overheating can impair decision-making, cooling helps maintain mental sharpness during competition.
Can assist with falling asleep after evening competitions by reducing elevated body temperature rapidly.
Why is Palm Cooling Becoming Popular in Sports?
Palm cooling is being increasingly adopted by professional and collegiate teams because:
It’s a simple, non-invasive method that can be used during games, workouts, or recovery.
It doesn’t require changes to an athlete’s routine—they can simply hold a cooling device while resting.
Research from institutions like Stanford University has shown its effectiveness in improving athletic performance and delaying fatigue.
Here is a video where Kyle is explaining what palm cooling is and why many teams are starting to adopt AVA Cooling Technology product:
Video: AVA Cooling Technology CEO, Kyle Sela
Today a growing number of top athletes are starting to use AVA Cooling Technology such as Cooper Flagg (Duke University/NCAA), DeAndre Jordan (Denver Nuggets/NBA), just to name a few.
Pictures: Top athletes (Cooper Flagg / Duke University (Left), DeAndre Jordan / Denver Nuggets (Right), using AVA Cooling Technology.
here is a video of Cooper Flagg using AVA Cooling Technology:
Video: Cooper Flagg (Duke University/NCAA) using AVA Cooling Technology.
Pictures: NCAA athletes (Boise State/NCAA (Left), Eastern Washington/NCAA (Right) using AVA Cooling Technology.
Here is a video testimonial on how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers use AVA Cooling Technology today:
AVA Cooling Technology is working with a large number of teams, including in the NBA, NCAA, NHL, NFL, and WNBA.
📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on his background, his company and product, the benefits for sports organizations and teams to use his product. We also talked about his competitive advantage, business model, and his plans for the next 12 months.
You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Kyle located at the top of this blog post.
Here are the quotes from the interview with Kyle:
Q1. Tell me about your background.
"I'm a physical therapist and strength coach. I got my doctorate in physical therapy through the Army Baylor program, which meant I was an Army physical therapist in the U.S. Army for seven years, including a tour in Iraq with a brigade combat team. I also had the opportunity to work with the Army Rangers, and that experience really pushed me toward the performance side of the house, working with high-performing individuals under extreme conditions."
"After leaving the Army, I was fortunate to attend the sports medicine fellowship at Duke University, where I focused on the management of Division I athletes. I spent a year embedded with Duke’s teams, learning from their strength coaches, athletic trainers, and medical staff. That experience gave me a deeper understanding of elite performance training and recovery strategies."
"From there, I took a job with a health system in Idaho, where I led a sports medicine residency program and managed a large clinic. We were starting to have kids, and we decided to move to Sun Valley, Idaho, a beautiful ski town, where I now work in a high-performance health club. Our clinic gives us access to aquatics, a full weight room, and a wide range of recovery and treatment tools, allowing us to experiment with and refine different performance strategies."
"I've always been fairly entrepreneurial, and that curiosity is what ultimately led me to create Ava Cooling Technology."
Q2. Tell me about your company and product.
"AVA Cooling Technology is built on the concept of thermoregulation through palm cooling. The idea first hit me when I was hiking in the summer, wearing a weighted vest, and listening to a Huberman Lab podcast. Huberman was discussing how thermoregulation is an underutilized performance tool, and I immediately felt like he was speaking directly to me—I was dying in the heat at that moment. He talked about the specialized blood vessels in our hands, feet, and face, called AVAs (arteriovenous anastomoses), which play a crucial role in temperature regulation. This concept of using the body’s natural cooling system to enhance performance was something I hadn’t seen being widely used in sports."
"After hearing that, I wanted to try it myself. The problem was, when I got home and looked for a practical, affordable cooling tool, there was nothing available that fit my needs. The existing options were either overly complex, expensive, or just not designed for real-world use. So I started experimenting with different materials, trying to develop something simple, effective, and easy to use."
"The result was our device—a metal tube of a specific density and size, filled with water to maximize thermal conductivity and heat capacity. It’s designed to cool the hands effectively, without requiring batteries or expensive cooling systems. Athletes can simply hold onto it between efforts to offload body heat, helping them maintain performance levels for longer durations."
Q3. What are the benefits for your customers to use your product?
"If the next few seconds or minutes matter to you, there’s probably nothing more powerful you can do than offload body heat. Whether you’re in the middle of a basketball game, lifting weights, or running sprints, cooling your body effectively can help you sustain higher levels of performance for longer. Heat buildup is a major limiting factor in sports performance, and by managing that, you can push yourself further before fatigue sets in."
"Our bodies expend a tremendous amount of energy just managing temperature. Some studies suggest that as much as 70% of ATP usage during high-intensity exercise is dedicated to thermoregulation. So if we can offload some of that work through targeted cooling, we free up more energy for performance, endurance, and cognitive function."
"Another major benefit is in recovery. By keeping body temperature in check during workouts and games, we can help delay fatigue, reduce cramping, and ultimately perform at a higher level throughout an entire session."
Q4. What do your customers like the most about your product?
"One of the most interesting things is that athletes—especially younger ones—just instinctively know how to use it. When I bring these to a youth soccer game, for example, the kids immediately grab them, hold them in their hands, and press them against their foreheads. These are the exact areas where the body naturally regulates heat, and they don’t even need an explanation. It’s an intuitive experience."
"For elite athletes, it’s about both the physical and mental benefits. Many describe a sense of calm when using the device. There’s a noticeable mental clarity and relaxation that comes from lowering body temperature. The hypothalamus, which regulates body temperature, is also involved in cognitive function and motivation. When we get too hot, our brain starts signaling us to slow down—it’s a built-in protective mechanism. By cooling down, athletes can maintain higher levels of intensity for longer without feeling as much fatigue or mental strain."
"At Duke, for example, we’ve seen Cooper Flagg and other top players using the device on the bench. It’s become part of their routine—between plays, they grab it and cool down. The impact is noticeable in their ability to sustain performance across long games."
Q5. How does College Basketball (Duke University) and especially Cooper Flagg use AVA Cooling Technology today?
"Duke’s had a few freshmen over the last few years who, especially in the early season, have had issues with heat cramping. Cooper Flagg, for example—he’s going to be the number one pick in the NBA draft, but early in the season, when he was playing at a higher level than he was used to and under more pressure, we saw him cramping up in games against Kentucky and Kansas. This happened to Paolo Banchero a couple of years ago, too."
"Duke started using our device strategically—Cooper will do his warm-up, and then in the minutes before tip-off, he’ll hold onto the cooling device for a few minutes just to bring his body temperature back down. It doesn’t mean he’s not warming up properly; it just helps regulate his temperature so he can sustain high effort for longer. Since they started doing this early in the season, they’ve been pretty successful in preventing cramping issues."
Q6. How does the University of Oklahoma’s softball team use their product today?
"Softball has become one of our fastest-growing sports, particularly at the college level. Oklahoma University, which is probably the most dominant team in all of sports right now, adopted AVA Cooling Technology really early. They’re always ahead of the game in terms of performance innovation, and their pitchers and catchers, in particular, love using the device between innings because of the workload they take on."
"Jocelyn Alo, who’s arguably the greatest hitter in softball history, even used our device during a game against UCLA in the national semifinal. She hit a grand slam, ran around the bases, and when she got to the bench, the first thing she did was grab our cooling device. That moment was seen by a ton of people watching that game, and it really helped bring awareness to how important thermoregulation is in high-performance sports."
Q7. What has been AVA Cooling Technology’s general adoption from the professional to the college level? Why teams are adopting their product rather than other more expensive cooling devices.
"We’re seeing adoption across multiple professional and collegiate teams, especially in indoor sports like basketball, where players have natural rest breaks, and in sports with heavy equipment like football and baseball, where overheating is a big challenge."
"What’s interesting is that a lot of teams that could afford the most high-tech solutions are choosing AVA Cooling Technology because of its simplicity. It’s practical, easy to implement, and doesn’t require changing routines. We’ve seen major college programs and professional teams adopt it because they’re looking for something that actually works without adding more complexity to their workflow."
Q8. Tell me about competitive advantage and business model.
"Our biggest advantage is simplicity. A lot of cooling products on the market are either too complex, too fragile, or require batteries and active cooling mechanisms. We wanted to make something that athletes can grab and use instantly without changing their routine. No setup, no wires, no hassle—just effective cooling."
"Another advantage is that our device cools both hands at the same time. Many other solutions only cool one hand, or only cool small sections of the palm. Our device is designed for maximum surface area contact, allowing athletes to offload heat more efficiently."
"We also embedded a thermometer in the device to ensure it stays in the optimal cooling range. If it gets too cold, you can actually cause vasoconstriction, which reduces the cooling effect. By keeping it in the right range—around 60°F—it maximizes heat transfer without causing discomfort."
"From a business model standpoint, we sell direct-to-consumer through our website and personal relationships with teams. Our goal is affordability and accessibility. We want this to be something teams can implement at scale without spending thousands of dollars on high-tech solutions."
Q9. What are your plans for the next 12 months?
"One of our biggest projects right now is developing a cooling housing unit. The idea is to make it easier for teams to keep multiple devices at the right temperature on the sideline, so players can just grab one and go. Right now, teams have to manually rotate and refill them, which works but could be more efficient. We’re designing a system that will streamline the process and make it even easier for teams to adopt palm cooling as a regular practice."
"We’re also raising $250,000 in funding to accelerate development and expand into more leagues and teams. We’ve already seen great adoption at the college and professional level, and we want to keep building on that momentum."
Q10. What is the best way to reach out to you?
"The easiest way to reach us is through our website at avacooling.com. There’s a contact form at the bottom where you can send us a message directly. You can also email us at avacoolingtech@gmail.com—I personally see those emails, and we’re a small team, so you’ll get a direct response."
"We’re also active on social media under Ava Cooling Technology. And if you prefer a more professional connection, I’m on LinkedIn as Kyle Sela, where I frequently share updates and insights about thermoregulation and performance."
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