IJSPP Paratriathlon in the heat (accepted 2019).pdf (332.91 kB)
High thermoregulatory strain during competitive paratriathlon racing in the heat
journal contribution
posted on 2019-05-13, 10:03 authored by Ben T. Stephenson, Sven P. Hoekstra, Keith TolfreyKeith Tolfrey, Vicky Goosey-TolfreyVicky Goosey-TolfreyPurpose: Paratriathletes may display impairments in autonomic (sudomotor and/or vasomotor function) or behavioural (drinking and/or pacing of effort) thermoregulation. As such, this study aimed to describe the thermoregulatory profile of athletes competing in the heat. Methods: Core temperature (Tc) was recorded at 30 s intervals in 28 mixed-impairment paratriathletes during competition in a hot environment (33oC, 35-41% relative humidity, 25-27oC water temperature), via an ingestible temperature sensor (BodyCap e-Celsius). Furthermore, in a subset of 9 athletes, skin temperature (Tsk) was measured. Athletes’ wetsuit use was noted whilst heat illness symptoms were self-reported post-race.
Results: Twenty-two athletes displayed a Tc ≥39.5oC with 8 athletes ≥40.0oC. There were increases across the average Tc for swim, bike and run sections (p≤0.016). There was no change
in Tsk during the race (p≥0.086). Visually impaired athletes displayed a significantly greater Tc during the run section than athletes in a wheelchair (p≤0.021). Athletes wearing a wetsuit (57% athletes) had a greater Tc when swimming (p≤0.032) whilst those reporting heat illness symptoms (57% athletes) displayed a greater Tc at various timepoints (p≤0.046). Conclusions: Paratriathletes face significant thermal strain during competition in the heat, as evidenced by high Tc, relative to previous research in able-bodied athletes, and a high incidence of self-reported heat illness symptomatology. Differences in the Tc profile exist depending on athletes’ race category and wetsuit use.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
International Journal of Sports Physiology and PerformanceVolume
15Issue
2Pages
231 - 237Citation
STEPHENSON, B.T. ... et al, 2019. High thermoregulatory strain during competitive paratriathlon racing in the heat. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 15 (2), pp.231-237.Publisher
© Human KineticsVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2019-05-05Publication date
2019-10-17Notes
Accepted author manuscript version reprinted, by permission, from International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2019, 15 (2): pp.231-237, https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2019-0116. © Human Kinetics, Inc.ISSN
1555-0265eISSN
1555-0273Publisher version
Language
- en