Abstract
Purpose
To determine the vastus lateralis muscle temperature kinetics during and after passive heating, to exam the effect of sex on thermoregulatory responses, and the thermal safety and tolerance of the 42 °C hot-water immersion protocol.
Methods
Thirty participants (15 males, 15 females) underwent a 2 h 42 ºC hot-water immersion to the waist level. Vastus lateralis, rectal and skin temperature, thermal sensation, heart rate and blood pressure (BP) were measured during the passive heating and recovery period. Participant recovery was monitored until muscle temperature returned to baseline.
Results
Vastus lateralis temperature increased to a maximal value of 39.0 ± 0.11 °C (P < 0.001), reaching a plateau after ~ 83.5 min of hot-water immersion and returning to baseline after ~ 115.8 min of recovery. Despite the anthropometric differences between males and females (e.g., height, body mass, body fat %, and fat thickness; P < 0.05), thermoregulatory responses showed no differences between sexes (P > 0.05). No change was found in systolic BP (~ 117 mmHg; P = 0.061). Peak rectal temperature (38.8 ± 0.14 °C; P < 0.001), heart rate (~ 100 bpm; P < 0.001), and diastolic BP (↓ ~ 13 mmHg; P < 0.001) during the hot-water immersion indicated the safety of the protocol. While skin temperature (~ 35.4 °C; P < 0.001) and thermal sensation (~ 5.95 AU; P < 0.001) confirmed protocol tolerance.
Conclusion
These data demonstrate lower-body 42 °C hot-water immersion to increase vastus lateralis temperature and plateau ~ 2.8 °C above baseline. This amplitude of muscle temperature change aligns with reported cellular adaptation and muscle growth. Thermal strain incurred from this protocol appears safe and tolerable, positioning it well for health-related prescription.
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Abbreviations
- %BF:
-
Body fat percentage
- ∆Max Temp:
-
Changes in muscle maximal temperature
- °C:
-
Celsius degrees
- µs:
-
Microseconds
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- AU:
-
Arbitrary unit
- BPM:
-
Beats per minute
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- df :
-
Degrees of freedom = [main effect, error]
- HIIT:
-
High-intensity interval training
- HPS:
-
Heat shock protein
- L s:
-
Litres per second
- MHz:
-
Megahertz
- RM:
-
Repetition maximum
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- T re :
-
Rectal temperature
- T VL :
-
Vastus lateralis muscle temperature
- T sk :
-
Skin temperature
- VI:
-
Vastus intermedius
- VL:
-
Vastus lateralis
- \(V{\text{O}}_{2\max }\) :
-
Maximum volume of oxygen consumption during exercise
- \(\eta_{{\text{p}}}^{2}\) :
-
Partial Eta squared
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Patrick Rodrigues has been supported by the International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS). No other sources of funding were utilized to assist this study.
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All authors (PR, GST, LW, GMM) participated in the conception and design of the study. PR was responsible for the data collection, analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors were responsible for the interpretation of the data and revising it critically for important intellectual content. Moreover, all authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript.
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Rodrigues, P., Trajano, G.S., Wharton, L. et al. Muscle temperature kinetics and thermoregulatory responses to 42 °C hot-water immersion in healthy males and females. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 2611–2624 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04482-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04482-7