Correlation between Temperature and Fatigue of Thigh in the

Resistance Training

Marcos Daniel Motta Drummond, Gustavo Ferreira Pedrosa, Aler Ribeiro Almeida,

Roberto De Santis, Bruno Pena Couto and Leszek Antoni Szmuchrowski

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, School of Physical Education, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy,

Laboratory of Load Evaluation, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Campus – Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

1 OBJECTIVES

To effectively enhance the athlete's performance is

important to monitor and adjusts the training load

parameters, whenever necessary (Szmuchrowski and

Couto, 2013). The fatigue control allows

adjustments during a training session, such as

reducing the number of sets, increasing the intervals

or even determines its interruption (Szmuchrowski

and Couto, 2013). Muscle temperature measured by

infrared cameras (IRC), has a significant correlation

with fatigue displayed during a training session

(Bartuzi et al., 2012). Therefore, the monitoring of

the muscle temperature may allow control of the

recovery process (Bandeira et al., 2012). Thus, the

use of IRC to monitor muscle fatigue can be a

practical and non-invasive way to assist the

monitoring and contributing for the adjustments on

the load parameters in the resistance training. The

hypothesis of this study is that the reduction in

resistance training performance in a resistance

training session is correlated to the increase of the

muscle temperature. Facing this, the present study

aimed to investigate the correlation between the

temperature of the thigh and fatigue in the resistance

training.

2 METHODS

The sample consisted in 18 untrained male subjects

(22.12 ± 4.1 years , 1.73 ± 0.05 m , 67.25 ± 5.5 kg,

skinfold from the right thigh: 12.5 ± 2.1 mm). All

volunteers signed a consent form agreeing to

participate in this study. Initially, the volunteers

underwent a familiarization to 10 repetition

maximum (10RM) test and the exercise Horizontal

Leg Press. After an interval of 72 hours from the

familiarization, all volunteers underwent the 10RM

test (Shaw et al., 2009). Then, after an interval of 72

hours, the volunteers underwent a single test session

in which they performed 5 sets of the exercise

Horizontal Leg Press using the weight determined in

the 10RM test. The volunteers were instructed to

perform as many repetitions to concentric failure

(maximum repetitions) in each set. The intervals

between the sets were 90 seconds. Prior to initiate

the exercise, the temperature of the right thigh was

measured in all volunteers at the midpoint between

the anterior superior iliac spine and the superior

border of the patella, in the longitudinal axis. This

measurement was repeated immediately after the last

set. Before the first measurement and during the

intervals between sets, the volunteers remained

seated with the thigh exposed to the environment

(temperature: 25°C, relative humidity of air: 57%),

without receiving solar radiation and air flow. To

obtain the temperature of the right thigh was used an

IRC brand FLIR® model E6 (FLIR Systems,

Boston, USA). The camera was positioned in a

distance of 50 cm from the voluntary and three

pictures of the thigh were taken before and after the

exercise. The average temperature recorded in the

three photos in each volunteer was used for data

analysis. The mean maximal repetitions performed

in the first and last set and the average temperatures

of the thigh before and after exercise were compared

by paired t test. The percentage change in the

maximum number of repetitions performed between

the first and last set was correlated (Pearson

correlations) with the percentage change in the

temperature of the thigh before and after exercise.

The level of significance adopted was set at 5%

(p<0.05). The normality of data was checked by

Shapiro-Wilk test.

3 RESULTS

All data revealed normal distribution. Results

showed a significant reduction between the

maximum repetitions performed during the first and

Daniel Motta Drummond M., Ferreira Pedrosa G., Ribeiro Almeida A., De Santis R., Pena Couto B. and Antoni Szmuchrowski L..

Correlation between Temperature and Fatigue of Thigh in the Resistance Training.

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

last set (p=0.009) and between the temperatures of

the thigh before and after exercise (p=0.006), as

showed in Table 1 as means and standard deviations.

The correlation between the mean percentage

change of maximum repetitions performed during

the first and last set and the percentage change in the

temperature of the thigh before and after exercise

was positive (r=0.12) but was not significant

(p=0.631).

Table 1: Maximum repetitions, thigh temperatures and

their variations.

First serie Last serie Variation

Maximum

repetitions

9.75±0.41 6.37±1.26

-4.39±2.5%

Before After Variation

Thigh

temperatures

35.5±1.2ºC 34.4±1.5ºC

-3.2±1.63%

Significant difference compared to previous values.

4 DISCUSSION

From the presented results it was evident that the

reduced performance in the proposed exercise was

not accompanied by an increase in the temperature

of the thigh, which refutes the hypothesis of this

study. Possibly the reducing in the temperature of

the thigh occurred due to its exposure to the

environment, and was not correlated with fatigue

generated in the resistance training session.

These results are contrary to findings by

Bandeira et al. (Bandeira et al., 2012) that indicated

a significant correlation between the temperature

and the thigh muscle fatigue. However, the authors

monitored the temperature 24 hours after the

completion of the training session, associating the

temperature increase to microlesions and inflame-

mation in the muscle group trained. Thus, these

results do not allow discussing the monitoring of

fatigue during the training session. The results of the

present study are also contrary to the assertions of

Bartuzi, Roman-Liu and Wiśniewski (2012), which

indicate a positive and significant correlation

between fatigue and muscle temperature. But it is

important to highlight that in this study was

measured the temperature of the arm, in the brachial

biceps, which generally has lower muscle mass and

area of heat dissipation, plus smaller skinfold

thickness and skin.

The results of the present study suggest that the

measurement of the temperature of the thigh is not

an effective way to control the fatigue generated in a

session of resistance training. Therefore, it does not

permit to knowing the fatigue levels and, if

necessary, to promoting the adjustments as

suggested by Szmuchrowski and Couto (2013), in

the training session load. However, the results may

be different in other muscles, body parts and other

exercises settings in a resistance training session,

which makes it necessary further studies about the

topic.

From the results of this study it can be concluded

that a reducing in the performance from a resistance

training session for thigh muscle, is not

accompanied by an increase in temperature of the

thigh. Therefore, the measurement of the

temperature of the thigh using IRC may not be an

effective way of load control during a session of

resistance training.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors of this study wish to thank the Fundação

de Amparo a Pesquisa (Research Protection

Foundation) of the state of Minas Gerais

(FAPEMIG-Brazil) and Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa

(PRPQ) (Research Pro-Rectory) of the Minas Gerais

Federal University.

REFERENCES

Szmuchrowski, L.A. and Couto, B.P., 2013, Sistema

Integrado do Treinamento Esportivo. In: Dietmar

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