Ergonomics and Comfort in Protective and Sport Clothing: A Brief Review

Abstract

Industrial and sport protective clothing (PC) is governed by protection requirements and sport clothing is generally selected on the basis of performance and comfort. The impact of PC on performance is determined by the nature of the work or sport, the metabolic rate required, the ambient environment, and the characteristics of the PC. The chief ergonomics challenge of PC is when moderate to high work rates must be performed in moderate to hot ambient environments. Comfort is typically subjectively measured and impacts performance. Comfort is multifactorial and dynamic rather than static. Sport clothing design is chiefly concerned with maximizing heat and moisture loss and comfort; however, attempts to use synthetic fabrics to increase comfort and heat dissipation have generally not been successful. Future innovations may include protective and sport clothing that responds to the environment, and that features integrated cooling systems with greater cooling capacity and practicality for mobile workers and sportsmen. A brief review of key challenges in the ergonomics of PC and sport clothing is presented along with potential directions for advancing ergonomics and comfort.

Does wearing clothing made of a synthetic “cooling” fabric improve indoor cycle exercise endurance in trained athletes?

“…2013; Davis and Bishop 2013); and untrained and/or recreationally active adults with normal cardiorespiratory fitness levels may not be able to achieve and/or sustain the power outputs and metabolic rates needed to impose a meaningful physiological heat stress on the body. Furthermore, individuals should be fully clothed in order to maximize the surface area of the skin covered by the test fabric as well as minimize heat loss occurring independent of the test fabric.…”

“…These qualitative descriptors accurately depict the differences in yarn weight and size used to create the two ensembles; and are consistent with the most important clothing attributes discussed by Bishop et al. (2013). Collectively, these findings suggest that garment properties related to comfort, and not cooling, per se, are important during high-intensity exercise.…”

“…2013; Davis and Bishop 2013). These claims have been largely unfounded, with the majority of published studies indicating a lack of thermoregulatory advantage during exercise while wearing clothing made of synthetic versus natural (e.g., cotton) fabrics (Bishop et al.…”

“…These claims have been largely unfounded, with the majority of published studies indicating a lack of thermoregulatory advantage during exercise while wearing clothing made of synthetic versus natural (e.g., cotton) fabrics (Bishop et al. 2013; Davis and Bishop 2013). However, the majority of these studies was performed during mild-to-moderate intensity exercise (30–70% of maximal rate of O 2 consumption; ) of fixed and variable durations (10–60 min) in relatively small groups ( n  ≤ 11) of healthy trained ( ≥ 55 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ) and untrained/recreationally active adults ( < 55 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ) (Gavin et al.…”

Surface modification of polyamide 6.6 fibers by enzymatic hydrolysis

“…Synthetic fabrics present several advantages such as strength, and elasticity, less wrinkles, lightness and fast drying [1], making them highly suitable for use in sportswear, however, their high hydrophobicity consists a problem that seeks attention, since it hinders the process of dyeing, permeability and sweat evaporation [2][3][4]. In addition, hydrophobicity is responsible for detainment of stains and static charges [5].…”