COMPARISON OF PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STRAIN IN HEALTHY MEN UNDER HEAT STRESS IN DRY AND STEAM HEAT SAUNAS
Journal Title: Biology of Sport - Year 2014, Vol 31, Issue 2
Abstract
The aim of the paper was to follow up major physiological reactions, provoked by heat stress during dry and wet sauna baths. A physical strain index and subjective estimation of heat comfort of subjects who had not taken sauna baths before was also evaluated. Ten healthy males aged 25-28 underwent a dry sauna bath and then after a one-month break they underwent a steam sauna bath. Each time, they entered the sauna chamber3 times for 15 minutes with five-minute breaks. During breaks they cooled their bodies with a cold shower and then rested in a sitting position. Before and after the baths, body mass and blood pressure were measured. Rectal temperature and heart rate were monitored during the baths. The physiological strain index (PSI) and cumulative heat strain index (CHSI) were calculated. Subjects assessed heat comfort by Bedford’s scale. Greater body mass losses were observed after the dry sauna bath compared to the wet sauna (-0.72 vs. -0.36 kg respectively). However, larger increases in rectal temperature and heart rate were observed during the wet sauna bath (38.8% and 21.2% respectively). Both types of sauna baths caused elevation of systolic blood pressure, but changes were greater after the dry one. Diastolic pressure was reduced similarly. Subjective feelings of heat comfort as well as PSI (4.83 ± 0.29 vs. 5.7 ± 0.28) and CHSI (76.3 ± 18.4 vs. 144.6 ± 21.7) were greater during the wet sauna bath. It can be concluded that due to high humidity and reduction of thermoregulation mechanisms, the wet sauna is more stressful for the organism than the dry sauna, where the temperature is higher with low humidity. Both observed indexes (PSI and CHSI) could be appropriate for objective assessment of heat strain during passive heating of the organism.
Authors and Affiliations
Wanda Pilch, Zbigniew Szyguła, Tomasz Palka, Paweł Pilch, Szczepan Wiecha, Łukasz Tota
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP59201
- DOI -
- Views 106
- Downloads 0
WHITE BLOOD CELLS IN POLISH ATHLETES OF VARIOUS SPORTS DISCIPLINES
The purpose of this study was to examine the diversity of white blood cell (WBC) counts and their subsets (neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes) among competitive athletes of different sports disciplines. The blood sam...
Exercise session promotes antioxidant changes in Brazilian soccer players
Daily physical exercise routine of professional athletes improves physiological functions and performance. However, it also promotes alterations in the antioxidant capacity to combat the augmented oxygen consumption and,...
Salivary and serum cortisol levels during recovery from intense exercise and prolonged, moderate exercise
The aim of this study was to compare serum (SERc) and salivary cortisol (SALc) responses during recovery from two different exhaustive exercises to determine peak cortisol sampling time and the agreement between SERc and...
The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 is reliable in young high-level soccer players
The aim of the study was to investigate test reliability of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YYIR1) in 36 high-level youth soccer players, aged between 13 and 18 years. Players were divided into three age gr...
Minimum blood lactate and muscle protein of rats during swimming exercise
Few studies dealing with effort intensity during swimming exercise in rats have been reported in the literature. Recently, with the use of the lactate minimum test (LMT), our group estimated the minimum blood lactate (MB...