ThermoLab: virtual thermoregulation

An interactive course on how the body handles heat during exercise, built around a heat-balance simulator.

Live: thermolab.vercel.app

The simulator

Set the conditions and the runner, and the model shows whether the heat stress is compensable:

• Inputs: air temperature, humidity, running speed, wind, body mass and height, a cooling method (none, water, ice slurry or cooling vest) and heat acclimatisation.
• Outputs: metabolic heat production, dry heat exchange, the evaporation required against the maximum the environment allows, heat storage, core and skin temperature over time, and the time to reach a core temperature of 40 °C.

Lessons can load scenarios into the simulator, so students see each principle play out.

The lessons

1. Fundamentals of human heat balance
2. Dry heat transfer
3. Evaporative heat loss
4. Thermal inertia and dissociation
5. Adaptation theory and glossary
6. Dynamics of heat adaptation
7. Meta-analysis: the overall effect
8. Time course: duration and magnitude
9. Methods: passive and active heat adaptation
10. Evidence-based recommendations

Lessons 7 to 10 summarise the heat adaptation meta-analysis by Tyler et al. (2024), including how quickly cardiovascular and sweating adaptations develop.

Run locally

npm install
npm run dev

Built with React, TypeScript, Vite and Recharts, starting from a Google AI Studio app template. No API key is needed.

Author

Alan Ruddock, exercise physiologist, Sheffield Hallam University (alanruddock.com). His PhD examined thermoregulation during exercise in the heat.