• Question: At which temperature does the body turns when you do sport? Approx.

    Asked by pacaba to Stephanie, LauraAnne, Katy on 14 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 14 Nov 2016:

      Our core temperature when we are resting is approximately 37 degrees Celsius. Our body isn’t really able to cope with large changes in core temperature but during exercise these temperatures can go up to between 38 and 40 degrees. However, at these temperatures and higher there are changes in your body which lead to both heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which is potentially life-threatening. This is part of the reason why you are advised not to exercise if you are sick for example, and why there will be lots of doctors at events in very hot temperatures. The fitter your heart and lungs are, the better your body is able to cope with big temperature increases like these.

    • Photo: Katy Griggs

      Katy Griggs answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      When you start exercising you core body temperature increases as you are producing more heat than you are losing. After about 10 minutes, your body will start to sweat and blood flow will be redistributed to the skin surface to increase heat loss and try to stabilise your core temperature. When you exercise in the heat, your core body temperature will increase even more as your body tries to get rid of the heat gained from the environment. In athletes with a spinal cord injury they aren’t able to sweat, so when they start to exercise, their core body temperature gets higher and higher as they struggle to lose the heat produced from exercising.

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