Effects of exercise intensity on the sweating response to a sustained static exercise

To investigate how the sweating response to a sustained handgrip exercise depends on changes in the exercise intensity, the sweating response to exercise was measured in eight healthy male subjects. Each subject lay in the supine position in a climatic chamber (35°C and 50% relative humidity) for ∼60 min. This exposure caused sudomotor activation by increasing skin temperature without a marked change in internal temperature. After this period, each subject performed isometric handgrip exercise [15, 30, 45, and 60% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)] for 60 s. Although esophageal and mean skin temperatures did not change with a rise in exercise intensity and were similar at all exercise intensities, the sweating rate (SR) on the forearm increased significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline (0.094 ± 0.021 mg ⋅ cm−2 ⋅ min−1at 30% MVC, 0.102 ± 0.022 mg ⋅ cm−2 ⋅ min−1at 45% MVC, 0.059 ± 0.009 mg ⋅ cm−2 ⋅ min−1at 60% MVC) in parallel with exercise intensity above exercise intensity at 30% MVC (0.121 ± 0.023 mg ⋅ cm...