Bilateral asymmetry of skin temperature is not related to bilateral asymmetry of crank torque during an incremental cycling exercise to exhaustion

Abstract

Although moderate relationships (|r|~0:5) were reported between skin temperature and performance-related variables (e.g., kinetic), it remains unclear whether skin temperature asymmetry reflects muscle force imbalance in cycling. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether a relationship exists between kinetic and thermal asymmetry during a fatiguing exercise. Ten elite cyclists were enrolled and tested on a maximal incremental cycling test. Peak crank torques of both legs were obtained at the initial and final workload. Likewise, bilateral skin temperatures were recorded before and after exercise. Asymmetric indexes were also calculated for kinetic (AIK) and skin temperature (AIT) outcomes. The bilateral peak crank torques showed a larger difference at the final compared to the initial workload (p<0:05) of the incremental exercise. Conversely, the bilateral skin temperature did not show any differences at both initial and final workload (p>0:05). Additionally, trivial relationships were reported between AIK and AIT (-0:3