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Unit 9. Assignment 1. Planning a Sport or Exercise Science-based research project. Research Rationale.
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Rationale for Research in Sport and Exercise Science: Unit 9 Research ProjectResearch Topic:
The effects of thermoregulation and the need to heat acclimatise for taekwondo competition.
Section One: Literature sources searched
The literature review focuses upon the impact that thermoregulation and heat acclimatisation could
have on taekwondo performance and to question whether or not it is important to specifically train
for heat acclimatisation in Taekwondo. The literature review examines whether sufficient research
into thermoregulation and heat acclimatisation for taekwondo exists, and if identifiable detriments
to performance exist if heat acclimatisation is ignored. On investigating current literature, there is a
sizable body of research on heat acclimatisation/thermoregulation and its affects upon sports
performance, but there is not much research on specific heat acclimatisation/thermoregulation for
taekwondo athletes. Many elite Olympic taekwondo athletes are commonly seen training in loose
and lightweight clothing (most often shorts or loose trousers and t-shirt) and only wear full
protective padding for sparring. During competitions, taekwondo athletes must wear a headguard,
gumshield, groin guard, forearm guards, gloves, shin guards, protective foot socks, and a Hogu (body
protector). Most of the protective padding is made from PU leather (polyurethane leather) which is
synthetic leather and contains mostly high-density foam padding. As polyurethane is a non-
breathable material, sweat cannot evaporate through the protective padding meaning that heat is
trapped between the skin and the protective padding making it much more difficult to for
taekwondo athletes to keep themselves cool. The research used in this mini literature review ranges
from research back from 1997 to 2021. This research has illustrated that heat acclimatisation is
important for athletic performance because it can improve physiological adaptations to hot climates
and improve physical fitness.
Studies that solely focused on aerobic adaptations discovered that high heat and humidity result in
increased physiological stress, which lowers athletes' endurance capacity (Lei and Wang 2021).
Additionally, Aoyagi et al. (1997) recognise that when athletes compete or train in high heat, they
frequently use physical training and heat acclimation techniques to increase their performance
and/or tolerance. These techniques have the potential to increase aerobic fitness, which increases
cardiovascular reserve, and reduce cardiovascular stress due to changes in the autonomic nervous
system. Sunderland, Morris and Nevill (2008) also appreciates how improvement in physical
endurance may be partially attributed to a decrease in rectal temperature and a corresponding
increase in thermal comfort.
One could be critical of the first study however, as it compares physiological responses between dry
heat and humid heat, which is a comparison of humidity only, instead of comparing high to low
humidity and heat which limits the impact of the results in relation to thermoregulation for
taekwondo. The second study only focuses on potential benefits of heat acclimatisation and factors
affecting thermoregulation without specifying whether or not the factors have a profound effect on
thermoregulation and/or heat stress. The third study comprised of participants who were only
female games players so the effects of thermoregulation are not specific to taekwondo. The majority
of these studies focused heavily upon sports performed in conditions that can be hot and humid like
, Tokyo (Lei and Wang 2021) along with the fact that athletes will have specific clothing they must
wear in line with sports regulations that do not always allow for optimal thermoregulation (Aoyagi et
al. 1997). Very few studies focus upon how wearing specific clothing and/or equipment during
training could lead to enhanced heat acclimatisation and thermoregulation adaptations. If these
adaptations were made, it could lead to increased performance potential during competition,
particularly in sports like Taekwondo which are contested predominantly at close to maximum heart
rate values (Janowski, Zielinski, & Kusy, 2021) which significantly increases metabolic heat
production.
The other studies in this literature review focus on a wider range of adaptations achieved through
thermoregulation and heat acclimatisation. Nielsen (1998) states that exercise and heat exposure
over time causes acclimatisation by changes in physiological functions that increase the body's
tolerance to heat stress. These changes can be measured by mechanisms that affect heart rate,
plasma volume and sweating rate. This study found that repeated exposures to high core
temperatures that cause alterations via endocrine factors triggered by the rising core temperature
and extended exercise results in a lower heartrate, more plasma in the blood, and increased
sweating. This study also found that after acclimatisation, the sweat glands' enhanced sensitivity to
thermal and hormonal stimuli can be achieved three ways: by an increase in the number of active
sweat glands, increase in sweat gland size, and/or increase in receptor density for neuronal and
humoral impulses (Nielsen 1998). Chalmers et al. (2014) found that short-term heat acclimation
training improves aerobic performance through a variety of cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, and
metabolic adaptations, as well as by lowering anaerobic energy release, raising anaerobic threshold,
and reducing perceived effort and fatigue. Périard, Racinais and Sawka (2015) also identified that
heat acclimatisation results in physiological changes that promote thermoregulation, such as
increased sweating rate, improved blood flow to the skin, lower body temperatures, decreased
cardiovascular strain, improved fluid balance, altered metabolism, and improved cellular protection.
The intensity, duration, frequency, and number of heat exposures, in addition to the ambient
variables, affect the magnitudes of adaptations (i.e., dry, or humid heat). This study also found that
compared to standard constant work rate exercise, heat acclimatisation regimens, controlled
hyperthermia regimens that maintain a target core temperature allow for more rapid and thorough
adaptations. Additionally, exposing athletes directly to the precise environmental and workout
circumstances they will experience during competition may result in more targeted responses
(Périard, Racinais and Sawka 2015). When heat acclimatisation protocols are conducted on athletes,
Lorenzo et al. (2010) found that heat acclimatisation in cool and hot environments, heat
acclimatisation increased VO2max by 5% and 8%, respectively. Additionally, in cool and hot settings,
heat acclimatisation increased time-trial performance of cyclists by 6% and 8%, respectively. In both
cool and hot circumstances, heat acclimatisation enhanced power production at lactate threshold by
5%. In both cool and hot circumstances, heat acclimatisation also increased plasma volume and
maximal cardiac output.
A critical point to raise with the fourth study is that the proportions of how much each stated
mechanism for heat acclimatisation contributes to thermoregulation is not stated, which makes it
difficult to understand the most important mechanisms that contribute to thermoregulation and
heat acclimatisation adaptations. The fifth study also only focuses on short-term heat acclimatisation
in team sports athletes which makes it difficult to truly know if the results would be relevant to
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