Jessica Mee

• PhD
• UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at University of Worcester

The current study assessed sex differences in thermoregulatory and physiological adaptation to short-term (STHA) and long-term heat acclimation (LTHA). Sixteen (eight males; eight females) participants performed three running heat tolerance tests (RHTT), preceding HA (RHTT1), following 5 days HA (RHTT2) and 10 days HA (RHTT3). The RHTT involved 30-...

Objectives To compare heat acclimation adaptations after three and six days of either post-exercise hot water immersion (HWI) or exercise-heat-acclimation (EHA) in recreationally active individuals. Design Randomised, mixed model, repeated measures. Methods Post-exercise HWI involved a daily 40-min treadmill-run at 65% V̇O2peak in temperate condi...

International competition inevitably presents logistical challenges for athletes. Events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games require further consideration given historical climate data suggest athletes will experience significant heat stress. Given the expected climate, athletes face major challenges to health and performance. With this in mind, h...

Hot water immersion (HWI) after exercise on 6 consecutive days in temperate conditions has been shown to provide heat acclimation adaptations in a recreationally active population. Endurance athletes experience frequent, sustained elevations in body temperature during training and competition; as a consequence, endurance athletes are considered to...

Objectives Investigate whether a sauna exposure prior to short-term heat acclimation (HA) accelerates phenotypic adaptation in females. Design Randomised, repeated measures, cross-over trial. Methods Nine females performed two 5-d HA interventions (controlled hyperthermia Tre ≥ 38.5 °C), separated by 7-wk, during the follicular phase of the menst...

This research compared thermal and perceptual adaptations, endurance capacity, and overreaching markers in men after 3, 6, and 12-days of post-exercise hot water immersion (HWI) or exercise heat acclimation (EHA) with a temperate exercise control (CON), and examined thyroid hormones as a mechanism for the reduction in resting and exercising core te...

Heat acclimation by post-exercise hot water immersion (HWI) on six consecutive days reduces thermal strain and improves exercise performance during heat stress. However, the retention of adaptations by this method remains unknown. Typically, adaptations to short-term, exercise-heat-acclimation (<7 heat exposures) decay rapidly and are lost within 2...

Purpose: Recommendations state that to acquire the greatest benefit from heat acclimation the clock-time of heat acclimation sessions should match the clock-time of expected exercise-heat stress. It remains unknown if adaptations by post-exercise hot water immersion (HWI) demonstrate time of day dependent adaptations. Thus, we examined whether ada...

There is limited and inconclusive evidence surrounding the physiological and perceptual responses to heat stress while sleep deprived, especially for females. This study aimed to quantify the effect of 24 h sleep deprivation on physiological strain and perceptual markers of heat-related illness in females. Nine females completed two 30-min heat str...

Introduction: The running heat tolerance test (RHTT) is a reliable method to quantified individuals heat tolerance, supporting the use of the RHTT when using a repeated measures design (Mee et al., 2015). However, biophysical factors related to heat production (Hprod) and body mass (BM) predominantly influence change in rectal temperature (∆Tre) (C...

Purpose: Thermotolerance is an acquired state of increased cytoprotection achieved following single or repeated exposures to heat stress, in part characterised by changes in the intracellular 72 kda heat shock protein (HSP72; HSPA1A). Females have demonstrated reduced exercise induced HSP72 in comparison to males. This study examined sex difference...

Introduction: The 2014 FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil, where the climatic conditions presented a significant thermoregulatory and perceptual challenge to those unfamiliar with the heat and humidity. Case presentation: This case report documents the adaptation induced by a novel mixed methods (isothermic and passive) heat acclimation (HA) regi...

Short term heat acclimation (STHA) is a preferred regime for athletes, since it is easier to adopt when sustaining quality training and tapering performance in the weeks prior to competition. Females have been reported to establish an enhance sudomotor function following STHA; however, they require long term HA to establish cardiovascular and therm...

Thermotolerance, to which heat shock protein-72 (Hsp72) contributes, is an acquired state achieved following heat acclimation (HA), eliciting cellular adaption and protection against thermal stress. Optimal HA methods achieving the greatest heat shock response (HSR) are equivocal; therefore, investigation of methods provoking the greatest sustained...

Individuals vary in their ability to sustain heat stress, where some demonstrate a decreased capacity to dissipate heat under the same exercise-heat stress. To screen individual exercise heat tolerance, a range of heat tolerance tests (HTT) have been employed. The current study assessed the reliability and validity of a short duration running test...

Traditional heat acclimation protocols apply constant heat stress and exercise intensity on a number of days to elicit adaptation. Accordingly, heat strain progressively declines across the protocol potentially limiting performance in intermittent sprint exercise where high levels of thermal strain are observed. The purpose of this study was to com...

Marino et al (2004: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology -Part B: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, 139, 561–569) has proposed that exercise in the heat can result in the self-selection of lower exercise intensities (i.e. pacing), to reduce the rate of rise in core temperature and avoid a premature cessation of exercise. Accordingly, it is uncle...