Effects of Football Equipment on Thermal Balance and Energy Cost during Exercise

Abstract

Abstract Central core temperature, energy cost and pulmonary ventilation, heart rate, and sweat loss were measured on 5 football players while exercising on a motor driven treadmill at 6 mph for 20 min. Comparisons were made while subjects wore a football uniform and a hospital scrub suit. Core temperature was measured by a rectal thermistor inserted 4 in. into the rectum, energy cost and pulmonary ventilation by open circuit spirometry, heart rate by telemetry, and sweat loss by pre- and postexercise weight changes. Core temperature, sweat loss, and peak exercise and end recovery heart rates while running in the uniform were significantly elevated compared to the scrub suit controls. Energy cost and pulmonary ventilation were greater (not significant) in the uniform primarily because of the added weight and, to a lesser degree, the reduction in available evaporative surface area.