Prediction of the exercise-heat tolerance of soldiers wearing protective overgarments.
The purpose of this investigation was to see whether subject characteristics and physiologic measurements predicted exercise-heat tolerance (EHT) and voluntary tolerance time in young soldiers. A total of 18 unacclimatized males attempted six 50-min periods of treadmill walking (4.0 km.h-1, 0% grade, 33 degrees C db, 20% rh) while wearing protective overgarments. Two post hoc groups of soldiers were defined: high EHT (H) and low EHT (L), having mean (+/- S.E.) tolerance times of 360 +/- 0 and 222 +/- 12 min, respectively. Significant (p less than 0.05) H vs. L differences were observed in pretrial body mass, percent fat, and mass-to-surface area ratio (M/SA), as well as 170 min HR, Tsk and heat storage. The first three of these factors indicated that preexercise anthropomorphic characteristics may be used to distinguish H from L. The HR and Tsk differences were interpreted to mean that L experienced greater cardiovascular strain in protective overgarments because of a higher Tsk, which resulted in increased pooling of blood in cutaneous vessels, decreased cardiac filling pressure, and increased fatigue. Because HR variables were the strongest correlates of exercise tolerance time (r2 = 0.60 for HR at 170 min, r2 = 0.83 for time to reach HR of 160 beats.min-1) a novel HR monitoring technique was proposed which uses a wrist-mounted cardiotachometer to predict tolerance time.
Armstrong
L E
LE
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Heat Research Division, Natick, MA.
Szlyk
P C
PC
Sils
I V
IV
De Luca
J P
JP
O'Brien
C
C
Hubbard
R W
RW
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011481:Protective Clothing; D014481:United States