Body Heat during Exercise

By Dr Yasir Ishaq
Thermogenesis
• Generation or production of heat, especially by physiological processes
• Includes the dietary-induced and thermoregulatory components
• Metabolism of nutrientsbody heat.
• Muscle contraction releases heat.
• Maximal efficiency for conversion of nutrient energy into muscle work, is only 20 to 25 percent;
the remainder of the nutrient energy is converted into heat during the course of the intracellular
chemical reactions.
• Almost all the energy that does go into creating muscle work still becomes body
heat because all but a small portion of this energy is used for
• (1) overcoming viscous resistance to the movement of the muscles and joints,
• (2) overcoming the friction of the blood flowing through the blood vessels,
• (3) other, similar effects, all of which convert the muscle contractile energy into heat.
Heat Production in Exercise
• Oxygen consumption by the body can increase as much as 20-fold in
the well-trained athlete and that the amount of heat liberated in the
body is almost exactly proportional to the oxygen consumption
• So tremendous amounts of heat are injected into the internal body
tissues when performing endurance athletic events
Importance of Thermoregulation
• Without thermoregulation to facilitate exercise the body would
overheat and the effect would result in death.
• Our core body temperature can drop 10 degrees and the body can
still survive, but a core increase of just 5 degrees is all we can tolerate.

• Many athletes have died of heat stress for this reason.It is important
to know how to cool off in hot weather by understanding
thermoregulation and the best ways to make it work to your
advantage.
Thermal Balance
A result of body mechanisms which:
• Alter heat transfer to the shell
• Regulate evaporative cooling
• Adjust heat production
Factors That Affect Heat Gain
• BMR, muscular activity, hormones, thermic effect of food, postural
changes, and environment.
• Total metabolic rate can increase 3 to 5 times from shivering and 20
to 25 times during sustained vigorous exercise in aerobically fit
individuals. 
• Heat is conserved when blood is shunted into the cranial, thoracic and
abdominal cavities and portions of muscle mass for insulation from
the shell.
Factors That Affect Heat Loss
• Radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation, which is most
important.
• The body is cooled when internal heat buildup causes the blood
vessels to dilate and direct warm blood to the shell
Hypothalamic Regulation of
Core Temperature
• The hypothalamus contains the central coordination center for
temperature regulation. It initiates the responses that keep the body
from overheating or overcooling
• Heat-regulating mechanisms are activated by either:
• Thermal receptors in the skin or,
• Temperature changes in the blood
• Free nerve endings in the skin respond to heat and cold and relay the
senses to the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex.
Thermoregulation in Heat Stress: Heat Loss
• The body's thermoregulatory mechanisms primarily protect against
overheating.
• Body heat loss occurs in four ways:
• Radiation
• Conduction
• Convection
• Evaporation
Heat Loss (Con't)
Radiation
• Our bodies are usually warmer than the environment, so the air and
the objects around us absorb our body heat.
Conduction
• Heat loss by conduction involves the direct transfer of heat through a
liquid, solid, or gas from one molecule to another.
• The rate of conductive heat loss depends on the temperature gradient
between the skin and surrounding surfaces and their thermal
qualities
Heat loss(Con’t)
Convection
• On a breezy day, cooler air continually replaces the warm air around the
body, so heat loss increases because the air currents carry the heat away.
Evaporation
• Water vaporization from the respiratory passages and skin surface
continually transfers heat to the environment
Evaporative Heat Loss at High Ambient
Temperatures
• Increased temperatures reduces the effectiveness of heat loss by
conduction, convection, and radiation.
• When temperatures exceed the body's temperature, these
mechanisms contribute to heat gain.
• When this occurs, the only avenue to dissipate heat is through
evaporation.
Effects of Clothing on Thermoregulation in
the Heat
• Dry clothing retards heat exchange, because if you switch to a dry
shirt you do not let evaporative cooling take effect. (Sweating doesn’t
cool you, evaporation does.)
• Heavy sweat shirts and rubber or plastic clothing cause high humidity
near the skin and also retard evaporative cooling.
• Loose clothing is recommended for evaporation since it permits the
free convection of air between the skin and environment.
• Light clothing to reflect light is recommended opposed to dark which
absorbs it
 Football Uniforms
• Football gear causes a major barrier to heat dissipation and seals off
50% of the skin from evaporative cooling.
• The weight of the gear also makes the muscles produce more heat
• Large players also have a small surface area to mass ratio and more
body fat
• Football has had many heat related deaths in the past 20 years
 Exercise-related heat exhaustion
• It is an illness caused by getting too hot & body temperature rises
above normal during exercise.
• If body cannot get rid of the extra heat, body temperature will rise. In
heat exhaustion, body temperature rises to 101°F (38.3°C) to 104°F
(40°C). This make you feel weak and dizzy. Heart may not be able to
pump enough blood. This can make you collapse.
• Heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke if it is not treated
• Exercise-related heat exhaustion is a common problem in athletes,
especially football players & in military recruits in basic training.
 Causes of exercise-related heat exhaustion
• Not drinking enough fluids during exercise cause dehydration.
• Exercising outdoors on a hot day In humid environment.
• Other Factors
• Infection/Sepsis
• Alcohol before exercise
• Obesity
• Not being used to a hot environment
• Stimulants, antihistamines, and medicines for epilepsy
• Sickle cell disease or conditions that decrease sweat
• Chronic illness
• Adults over the age of 65 and young children have a higher risk for heat exhaustion and
other heat-related illnesses.
 Symptoms of heat exhaustion
• The main sign of heat exhaustion is a body temperature of 101°F (38.3°C) to
104°F (40°C).
• Fast breathing, Heavy sweating,
• Dizziness, Fainting
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea or diarrheal cramps
• Mild temporary confusion
• Low blood pressure, Dehydration
• Problems coordinating movement
• Unlike heat stroke, heat exhaustion does not cause significant brain or
thinking problems, such as delirium, agitation, unconsciousness, or coma.
How to prevent heat exhaustion
• If you exercise in hot, humid environments, take breaks often. Try to exercise in
the early morning or late evening when it is generally cooler than the middle of
the day.
• Stay inside when the temperature is very high. If you must go outside, wear a hat,
use sunscreen and take frequent breaks to drink water.
• Get plenty of fluids while you exercise.
• Wear lightweight, loose clothing.
• Stop exercising or get yourself out of the hot environment at the first warning
signs of heat-related illness
• Treatment for heat exhaustion involves lowering your body temperature and
getting more fluids.
Heatstroke
• With very hot and humid conditions or excess clothing, the body
temperature can easily rise to 106°F to 108°F (41°C to 42°C). At this
level, the elevated temperature becomes destructive to tissue cells,
especially the brain cells.
• Multiple symptoms begin to appear, including extreme weakness,
exhaustion, headache, dizziness, nausea, profuse sweating, confusion,
staggering gait, collapse, and unconsciousness.
HeatStroke(con’t)
• Failure to treat it immediately can lead to death.
• In fact, even though the person has stopped exercising, the
temperature does not easily decrease by itself.
• Because at these high temperatures, the temperature-regulating
mechanism often fails.
• A second reason is that in heatstroke, the very high body temperature
approximately doubles the rates of all intracellular chemical reactions,
thus liberating still more heat.
The treatment of heatstroke
• To reduce the body temperature as rapidly as possible.
• To remove all clothing,maintain a spray of cool water on all surfaces of
the body or continually sponge the body, and blow air over the body
with a fan.
• Some physicians prefer total immersion of the body in water
containing a mush of crushed ice if available.
• Experiments have shown that this treatment can reduce the
temperature either as rapidly or almost as rapidly as any other
procedure
Complications of heatstroke

• Pulmonary edema or acute respiratory distress syndrome