Factors Which Alter Human Physiological Responses during Exercise-Heat Acclimation

摘要

Researchers generally agree that high aerobic fitness achieved through physical training will reduce the physiological strain to exercise in the heat, but does not replace the benefits of an exercise-heat acclimation program. In addition, high aerobic fitness is hypothesized as a major factor in the small decay and rapid re-acclimation of individuals after they ceased exercising in hot environments. However, recent work from our laboratory suggests that improved aerobic fitness by physical training must be associated with significant elevations in core temperature during the training process in order to improve exercise-heat tolerance. Two recent studies comparing men and women with similar aerobic fitness indicate no major physiological differences between genders in both humid and dry heat for cardiovascular and thermoregulatory responses to these environments either before or after acclimation. Our laboratory has reported that after exercise-heat acclimation under wet conditions (mild or hot), females tolerate the heat in a more efficient fashion than males while under hot-dry conditions males seem to be at some physiological advantage. Even fewer studies are reported which evaluate physiological differences in heat tolerance to exercise in relation to age. In general, exercise-heat tolerance is reduced in pre-pubertal children (boys and girls) and older adults (men and women) compared to young men and women. However, aerobically fit older adults seem to have far fewer decrements in the performance of exercise in the heat than less fit older adults.