Regional rates of sweat evaporation during leg and arm cycling.

The rate of sweat evaporation from the arm, chest, back and thigh, aural temperature, skin temperature (arm, chest, back and thigh), heat production (derived from measurements of respiratory gas exchange) and heart rate were measured in 7 men during 15 minutes of leg or arm cycling at 32% of predicted maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max). The regional sweat evaporation rates and changes in body temperature were similar during both forms of exercise. The peak rates of sweat evaporation from the arm, chest, back and thigh were 15.7 +/- 19.8, 25.0 +/- 21.6, 28.7 +/- 22.7 and 21.0 +/- 18.2 mg.cm-2 hr-1 during leg cycling and 13.2 +/- 11.6, 22.2 +/- 14.4, 27.6 +/- 14.7 and 19.2 +/- 13.3 (SD) mg.cm-2 hr-1 respectively during arm cycling. The sweat evaporation rates from the different body regions were not significantly different from one another.