A COMPARISON OF SWEATING RESPONSES DURING EXERCISE AND RECOVERY IN TERMS OF SWEATING RATE AND BODY-TEMPERATURE

Based on the hypothesis that the relation between sweating rate and bo dy temperature should be different during exercise and rest after exer cise, we compared the sweating response during exercise and recovery a t a similar body temperature. Healthy male subjects performed submaxim al exercise (Experiment 1) and maximal exercise (Experiment 2) in a ro om at 27 degrees C and 35% relative humidity. During exercise and reco very of 20 min after exercise, esophageal temperature (Tes), mean skin temperature, mean body temperature (($) over bar Tb), chest sweating rate (m(sw)), and the frequency of sweat expulsion (F-sw) were measure d. In both experiments, m(sw) and F-sw were clearly higher during exer cise than recovery at a similar body temperature (Tes, ($) over bar Tb ). m(sw) was similar during exercise and recovery, or a little less du ring the former, at a similar F-sw. It is concluded that the sweating rate during exercise is greater than that during recovery at the same body temperature, due to greater central sudomotor activity during exe rcise. The difference between the two values is thought to be related to non-thermal factors and the rate of change in mean skin temperature .