The influence of subcutaneous fat in the skin temperature variation rate during exercise

Abstract

Introduction: Thermography records the skin temperature, which can be influenced by: muscle mass and subcutaneous fat layer. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of subcutaneous fat layer in the skin temperature variation rate, during exercise. Methods: This is a short-longitudinal study that involved 17 healthy male trained volunteers. Volunteers were divided in two groups. The first called GP1 with nine volunteers (biceps brachii skinfold thickness < 4 mm) and the second called GP2 with eight volunteers (biceps brachii skinfold thickness from 4 to 8 mm). Both groups performed three sets with 16 repetitions of unilateral biceps brachii bi-set exercise with dominant arm (eight repetitions of biceps curls and another eight of biceps hammer curls, with dumbbells), and with load of 70% of 1RM. The rest time between sets was 90s. Results:The skin temperature variation rate (variation of temperature / time) was 3.59 × 10-3 ± 1.47 × 10-3 °C/s for GP1 and 0.66 × 10-3 ± 4.83 × 10-3 °C/s for GP2 (p = 0.138) considering all moments. For the period after set 1 until the end of set 3, skin temperature variation rate was 5.11 × 10-3 ± 2.57 × 10-3 °C/s for GP1 and 1.88 × 10-3 ± 3.60 × 10-3 °C/s for GP2 (p = 0.048). Subcutaneous fat layer also influences the skin temperature at resting (p = 0.044). Conclusion: Subjects with lower subcutaneous fat layer have a higher skin temperature variation rate during exercise than those with higher subcutaneous fat layer.

Changes in Selected Morphological Parameters and Body Composition, as Well as Mean Body Surface Temperature Assessed by Thermal Imaging, in Women After Abdominal Liposuction

“…Another research investigated the difference of skin temperature in the abdominal region between obese and normal weight groups, and the correlation between abdominal skin temperature and body fat percentage was 0.545, while the abdominal skin temperature of obese group was lower than in the normal weight group (Savastano et al, 2009). Similar relationships were shown by Neves et al who observed that subjects with lower subcutaneous fat layer had a higher skin temperature variation rate during exercise than those with a thicker subcutaneous fat layer (Neves et al, 2015).…”

Biomedical musculoskeletal applications of infrared thermal imaging on arm and forearm: A systematic review

“…Regarding future arm and forearm muscle studies, it is recommended to explore the accuracy of thermographic evaluation of muscular activity and to use the subcutaneous fat layer as a co-variable, since it affects heat transfer rate from the muscle to the skin surface (Neves et al, 2015b;Novotny et al, 2015). Further analysis of the early detection of sore muscles, through thermal imaging, is advised, due to its potential in lowering the chances of athletes suffering from injuries caused by over-exercised muscles in the sport setting (Al-Nakhli et al, 2012).…”

“…The TISEM points, which were poorer in the literature appraised were: the specification of the time between setting the camera on and the images collection for avoiding the startup drift, the mention of the time of the day that the images were taken, and the drying method used for the skin in the situation that required it, which in most of these applications was not the case. The level of evidence of statistics overall was poor, most research works consisted in small samples, some lacked a control group, 8 papers (Neves et al, 2015b(Neves et al, , 2016Trentin et al, 2012;Chudecka and Lubkowska, 2012;Ratovoson et al, 2013;Chang et al, 2015;Haluzan et al, 2015;Boguszewski et al, 2015) did not presented any statistics and Neves et al (Neves et al, 2015a) presented the wrong statistics.…”

“…The results indicate that IRT could be useful in the identification of vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, through the comparison of bilateral differences between thermal skin patterns of the upper limbs of the same person. Other studies by Neves et al (Neves et al, 2015b;Neves et al, 2015a), used IRT to record the variation of skin temperature distribution, during the performance of a biceps brachii exercise. It was observed that subjects with lower subcutaneous fat layer had a higher skin temperature variation rate, and that muscle cross-sectional area was influenced by arm muscle region' skin temperature.…”

Ayurveda Insights on Physiology of Sweating and Thermoregulation

“…• Psychosomatic constitution (Prakriti): Ayurveda has described that the quantity and odor of sweat depends upon psychosomatic constitution of an 27 , so in obese the major site of heat loss is palm and sole due to presence of arteiovenous anastomoses. Degree of thermal insulation is positively correlated to degree of obesity 28 . Ayurveda has also given similar thought that in obesity there is Vata Vriddhi (~ autonomic dysfunction) and Srotoavrodha due to excess deposition of fat resulting in the augmentation of digestive fire and more appetite 29 , more intake of food and thus more formation of Aahara Mala i.e.…”