Prediction of the exercise-heat tolerance of soldiers wearing protective overgarments
- U.S. Army, Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA (USA) Connecticut, University, Storrs (USA)
The purpose of this investigation was to see whether subject characteristics and physiologic measurements predicted exercise-heat tolerance (EHT) and voluntary tolerance time. Unacclimatized males attempted six 50-min periods while wearing protective overgarments. Two post hoc groups of soldiers were defined: high EHT (H) and low EHT (L). Significant H vs. L differences were observed in pretrial body mass, percent fat, and mass-to-surface-area ratio, as well as 170 min heart rate, mean weighted skin temperature Tsk and heat storage. The first three of these factors indicated that preexercise anthropomorphic characteristics distinguish H from L. The heart rate and Tsk differences mean that L experienced greater cardiovascular strain because of a higher Tsk, which resulted in increased pooling of blood in cutaneous vessels, decreased cardiac filling pressure, and increased fatigue. Because heart rate variables were the strongest correlates of exercise-tolerance time a novel heart beat monitoring technique was proposed which uses a wrist-mounted cardiotachometer to predict tolerance time. 26 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 5232320
- Journal Information:
- Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine; (United States), Vol. 62; ISSN 0095-6562
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
MILITARY PERSONNEL
BODY TEMPERATURE
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
PERFORMANCE TESTING
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BLOOD CIRCULATION
HEATING
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMOREGULATION
TOLERANCE
CLOTHING
CONTROL
PERSONNEL
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
TESTING
450600* - Military Technology
Weaponry
& National Defense- Chemical & Biological- (1990)