Active recovery attenuates the fall in sweat rate but not cutaneous vascular conductance after supine exercise

The purpose of this study was to identify wether baroreceptor unloading was responsible for less efficient heat loss responses (i.e., skin blood flow and sweat rate) previously reported during inactive compared with active recovery after upright cycle exercise (Carter R III, Wilson TE, Watenpaugh DE, Smith ML, and Crandall CG. J Appl Physiol 93: 1918-1929, 2002). Eight healthy adults performed two 15-min bouts of supine cycle exercise followed by inactive or active (no-load pedaling) supine recovery. Core temperature (T _core), mean skin temperature (T_sk), heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), thoracic impedance, central venous pressure (n = 4), cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC; laser-Doppler flux/MAP expressed as percentage of maximal vasodilation), and sweat rate were measured throughout exercise and during 5 min of recovery. Exercise bouts were similar in power output, heart rate, T_core, and T_sk. Baroreceptor loading and thermal status were similar during trials because MAP (90 ± 4, 88 ± 4 mmHg), thoracic impedance (29 ± 1, 28 Ω 2), central venous pressure (5 ± 1, 4 ± 1 mmHg), T_core (37.5 ± 0.1, 37.5 ± 0.1°C), and T_sk (34.1 ± 0.3, 34.2 ± 0.2°C) were not significantly different at 3 min of recovery between active and inactive recoveries, respectively; all P > 0.05. At 3 min of recovery, chest CVC was not significantly different between active (25 ± 6% of maximum) and inactive (28 ± 6% of maximum; P > 0.05) recovery. In contrast, at this time point, chest sweat rate was higher during active (0.45 ± 0.16 mg·cm^-2·min^-1) compared with inactive (0.34 ± 0.19 mg·cm^-2· min^-1; P < 0.05) recovery. After exercise CVC and sweat rate are differentially controlled, with CVC being primarily influenced by baroreceptor loading status while sweat rate is influenced by other factors.