Effects of sportswear on thermoregulatory responses during exercise in a hot environment

Abstract To investigate if there are quantitative differences in heat stress associated with different types of sportswear, we analyzed the differences in thermoregulatory responses between soccer (SC), baseball (BB), and fencing (FU) uniforms during exercise in a hot environment. Eight male subjects performed three 20-min cycling sessions at light intensity (250 W/m 2 ) wearing FU, SC, or BB uniforms in a room maintained at 28°C (wet-bulb globe temperature, WBGT). Esophageal ( T es ), mean skin ( T sk ), and core temperatures at thigh ( T ct ), heart rate (HR), thermal sensation (TS), and total sweat loss (TSL) were measured during exercise. Increases in T es (Δ T es ), T ct , and HR during exercise were significantly ( p p T sk in BB uniforms was significantly ( p T es in BB uniforms was 1.4 times higher, while the TSL in BB and FU uniforms was 1.3 times greater than that in SC. The T sk significantly correlated with the Δ T es ( r =0.653, p T es also correlated with the TSL ( r =0.550, p r =0.696, p