Effect of acute exercise on skin potential in sedentaries and trained athletes

Endosomatic electrodermal activity (skin potential level and skin potential response) as an indirect indicator of sympathetic nervous system activity was measured in 35 sedentary male students and 22 trained athletes of two groups during resting and after an acute exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate the difference of skin potential parameters between sedentaries and trained athletes before and after the acute exercise in bicycle ergometer. In sedentaries' group while skin potential level (SPL) and latency showed no significant variations, skin potential response (SPR) decreased significantly after the exercise (P < 0.001). In athletes' group SPL increased (P < 0.01) and SPR decreased (P < 0.05) after the exercise but latency had no significant difference. In addition, athletes had significantly higher SPL and lower SPR values before and after the exercise comparing with the sedentaries. The increase of SPL in athletes' group was thought to depend on sweat duct pores which have been more active and open than sedentaries. Also the decrease in SPR in athletes' group was thought to depend on the lower sweating threshold in athletes.