Thermal "portrait" of sportsmen with different aerobic capacity

Abstract

Nowadays thermography technique is widely used in clinical and diagnostic procedures. Thermal “portrait” fixed by infra-red thermotracer in rest conditions is characterized by mosaic temperature distribution on skin surface and large individual differences in this pattern. We obtained significant correlations between maximal and average temperature on sportsmen upper body part and important indexes of aerobic capacity – VO 2max and anaerobic threshold. We suggest mechanisms responsible for its formation and also propose hypothesis assuming possible role of brown adipose tissue influence on thermal “portrait” forming.