Effects of body-mapping-designed clothing on heat stress and running performance in a hot environment

• Published in: Ergonomics Vol. 60; no. 10; pp. 1435 - 1444
• Main Authors: Jiao, Jiao, Li, Yi, Yao, Lei, Chen, Yajun, Guo, Yueping, Wong, Stephen H. S., Ng, Frency S. F., Hu, Junyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 03.10.2017; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Athletes; Athletic Performance - physiology; Body Temperature Regulation; core temperature; Design optimization; Dissipation; Exercise Test; Fabrics; Heat; heat dissipation; Heat storage; Heat stress; Heat Stress Disorders - prevention & control; Heat tolerance; Hot Temperature; Humans; Male; Mapping; Running - physiology; running exercise; Skin; Skin Temperature; Space life sciences; Sportswear; Temperature; Thermal response; thermal responses; Young Adult; core temperature; Sportswear; running exercise; thermal responses; heat dissipation
• ISSN: 0014-0139; 1366-5847
• DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2017.1306630

To investigate clothing-induced differences in human thermal response and running performance, eight male athletes participated in a repeated-measure study by wearing three sets of clothing (CloA, CloB, and CloC). CloA and CloB were body-mapping-designed with 11% and 7% increased capacity of heat dissipation respectively than CloC, the commonly used running clothing. The experiments were conducted by using steady-state running followed by an all-out performance running in a controlled hot environment. Participants' thermal responses such as core temperature (T c ), mean skin temperature ( ), heat storage (S), and the performance running time were measured. CloA resulted in shorter performance time than CloC (323.1 ± 10.4 s vs. 353.6 ± 13.2 s, p = 0.01), and induced the lowest , smallest ΔT c , and smallest S in the resting and running phases. This study indicated that clothing made with different heat dissipation capacities affects athlete thermal responses and running performance in a hot environment. Practitioner Summary: A protocol that simulated the real situation in running competitions was used to investigate the effects of body-mapping-designed clothing on athletes' thermal responses and running performance. The findings confirmed the effects of optimised clothing with body-mapping design and advanced fabrics, and ensured the practical advantage of developed clothing on exercise performance.