Body Climate Differences for Men and Women Wearing Functional Underwear during Sport at Temperatures below Zero Degrees Celsius

Functional underwear regulates the body climate by influencing moisture and temperature of the skin. Especially in alpine skiing and snowboarding athletes have alternating phases of physical activity and pauses (downhill, ski-lift rides) thus the maintenance of a stable body climate is essential to prevent the body from overheating or cooling down too much. However no research has been conducted so far concerning differences in requirements for heat- and moisture-regulation for men and women. To assess the differences in body climate for men and women in this study four differently warm functional underwear shirts were tested on five male and five female subjects wearing similar standard ski clothing above the underwear. Four moisture- and four temperature sensors were attached on specific positions to the subjects’ skin. Tests on a cycling-ergometer were performed in a climatic-chamber (-9∘C, 70% rh) tests. Overall results clearly show that there are significant gender-specific differences in body climate, like higher body temperature and higher moisture for men compared to women.