Endurance training, heat acclimation, and protective clothing: The thermophysiology of exercising in a hot climate

rotective clothing imposes significant physiological and psychological stresses on the human body, especially in hot environments. Perhaps the most important constraint is the limited vapor permeability of the clothing. Endurance training and heat acclimation are both commonly adopted tactics to improve tolerance times when individuals must work in the heat. However, it is unclear whether training and acclimation are helpful where personnel must wear protective clothing. The main purpose of this research was thus to examine how the benefits of training and acclimation are modified by wearing protective clothing.;Experiment 1 studied effects of training in subjects who all received heat acclimation. Seven young men underwent 8 weeks of physical training (60-80% of maximal aerobic power ;When wearing normal clothing, training or acclimation decreased physiological (rectal temperature...