Thermal Responses to Exercise in Male Master Track & Field Athletes: Monitoring during Competition

Due to involutional changes, the ability to perform physical exercise may undergo dynamic alterations. Therefore, analysis of physiological variables characterizing the response to competitive effort in Master athletes can provide additional information about the condition of the athlete and any potential dysfunctions. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of physical effort (warm-up and competition) on changes in skin surface temperature (T_sk) of the lower limbs in athletes across different age categories. Considering the abrupt changes in the functioning of various systems, athletes were divided into three age categories: 35-45 years, 50-65 years, and over 70 years of age. Thermographic imaging was applied at rest and immediately after the race. In the 35-45 age group, a statistically significant decrease in T_sk was observed after exercise, particularly in the area of the rectus femoris muscle of both lower limbs, with the largest reduction recorded for the right rectus femoris muscle (ΔT_sk = 0.63°C). Significant changes in Tsk were also found in the left biceps femoris muscle and the right gastrocnemius muscle. In the 50-65 and 70+ age groups, the changes were not statistically significant. Overall, exercise-induced changes in lower-limb skin temperature were evident primarily in the youngest Master athletes, whereas no consistent or statistically significant age-related differences were observed among groups. These findings suggest a relative preservation of thermoregulatory responses with advancing age in trained individuals, however, given the predominantly non-significant inter-group comparisons, age-related interpretations should be considered exploratory.