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Mechanisms of Body Heat Dispersal

The temperature of the human body is regulated by the hypothalamus, an area in the brain. Maintaining body temperature at balanced level is important for a cyclist to avoid the risks.

For instance, a cyclist who climbs at the rate of 400 watts would experience more difficulty, as his body temperature increases to dangerous levels. The risk would be doubled on a sunny day. The cyclist can avoid such risks by responding to the body’s temperature. The cardiovascular system redirects the blood flow to the skin, as soon as it receives neural signals from the body’s temperature control system.

There are four types of heat loss and retention mechanisms to dissipate heat to the environment- Conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. They help the body to respond to overheating and prevent the body from heat loss.

Conduction is the most important heat loss and retention mechanism that dissipates heat. It is the heat loss and the rate of such loss depends on the temperature inclined between the surrounding environment and the skin. Conduction is responsible for two percent heat loss in body and the cyclist can gain it, if the temperature in the environment is high.

Convection is typically the air movement, while cycling. The heat loss through this mechanism while cycling normally depends upon the speed of the warm air removed by the body and the speed at which it is replaced by cool air.

Radiation is yet another heat loss and retention mechanism, in which the energy waves are emitted by one system and absorbed by another. Normally, the human body is warmer than the environment and the heat is therefore transferred to the environment from the body. Heat loss is not considered by this mechanism. If the environment temperature is higher than the body temperature, radiation will not happen.

Evaporation takes place when the sweat is evaporated off the skin. This is quite common, while performing outdoor sport like cycling.

It is vitally important for a cyclist to maintain body temperature through heat loss and retention mechanisms. In fact, the temperature sensitive nerves around the human body sense any change in body temperature and sends information about such changes to the brain. The messages are then sent to the body properly through these four mechanisms. Heat can be then dissipated to the environment by the cyclist to avoid any risks. Therefore, the effectiveness of these four mechanisms is more in cycling.

Written by Sam · Filed Under Training