Started by MrPuppeh, June 4, 2013 · 11 Replies · 3,000 Views
This is my Deload week and I spent some time outside for 4 hours hanging out and riding with my bike. As it is summer the weather is pretty hot.
So, when I got home I felt the urge to sleep so I took a nap which was about 2hours long and I feel completely wrecked. I missed my todays Deload workout.
Is it just me ?
I could not imagine How would someone do hard labour on hot days like these and workout - I would be dead.
How can one increase his tolerance levels ?
You were probably dehydrated. Try drinking more water and getting more salt.
My system struggles alot with heat as well. I get tired and sluggish, and my mental functioning is also reduced. I am also fairly pale so the sun tends to burn me quite quickly. Over the years I have just learned to manage it, so I stay indoors for the hotter parts of the day.
No matter how much water you drink, The body needs time to get acclimated to the heat. If you were someone who works outdoors in the heat on a daily basis it wouldn't be a big deal. But if your having troubles it's probably because you're not acclimated to it yet. I think on average it can take a guy who's new to working in the heat at least a couple weeks to get acclimated.
I train outside every day, in 100+ degree weather. And then usually some manual labor afterwards, with most of the time spent in direct sun. Today it was about 4 hours exercise + manual labor outside for me, all at once. I would say that this is a matter of allowing your body enough time to acustom itself to the temperature. After a while, it does not become bothersome at all (only those pesky mosquitoes to deal with haha). Don't jump into the deep end with 4 hours of biking in extreme temperatures! Start with something managable with this temperature and work up.
Like Joshua Slocum said, drink lots of water! I usually go through 32 oz for a 1 hour exercise session. I put a little bit of salt in the water, and some lemon juice. After the exercise, I continue to drink enough water with some fast carb and protein, like potatoes/fruit and chicken, to keep me hydrated and replish nutrients.
Also, I found this written from an old physiology lecture of mine, If you are curious:
Physiological adaptations that occur to assist the body in adjusting to environmental extremes
• Occurs within 10-12 days
• Earlier onset of sweating
• Higher sweat rate
• Increase in blood volume
• Reduced sodium chloride lost in sweat
• Reduced skin blood flow
Seeing as I'm not a vampire, no.
Do it more often and you will adapt.
I remember the same thing when I was a kid and would be out swimming in the pool.
You have to get used to the heat. It takes around 2 weeks for the largest part of acclimation to occur, and after that the textbooks say that not too much changes. Aside from making sure you maintain hydration, which is excellent advice, you can try to wear clothing that is specifically designed to help your body cool itself via evaporation. You may also want a fan to stand in front of to assist said evaporation.
That being said, exercising in very hot environments will always limit your performance capabilities fora prolonged training session compared a more moderate temperature environment. Humidity also plays a big role, because more humidity = less sweat evaporating, which means your sweat can't cool your body effectively.
When you can't lose heat fast enough, your core temp rises. There is now evidence of a central controller, which means that your brain is actually the primary factor in most acute exercise fatigue.
You have to remember that if your temperature goes over 105-ish degrees Fahrenheit then your body starts to break down. That's not a huge increase in temperature, so we have several layers of protection. One of these is to lower the power production in the muscles to avoid excessive heat generation.
I will advise everyone who trains outside to learn what a heat index is, and to become familiar with how heat indexes can help you plan your outdoor workouts. Google searches for "heat index" and "how to use heat index to plan workout" are good starts.
Joshua Naterman said:You have to get used to the heat. It takes around 2 weeks for the largest part of acclimation to occur, and after that the textbooks say that not too much changes. Aside from making sure you maintain hydration, which is excellent advice, you can try to wear clothing that is specifically designed to help your body cool itself via evaporation. You may also want a fan to stand in front of to assist said evaporation.
That being said, exercising in very hot environments will always limit your performance capabilities fora prolonged training session compared a more moderate temperature environment. Humidity also plays a big role, because more humidity = less sweat evaporating, which means your sweat can't cool your body effectively.
When you can't lose heat fast enough, your core temp rises. There is now evidence of a central controller, which means that your brain is actually the primary factor in most acute exercise fatigue.
You have to remember that if your temperature goes over 105-ish degrees Fahrenheit then your body starts to break down. That's not a huge increase in temperature, so we have several layers of protection. One of these is to lower the power production in the muscles to avoid excessive heat generation.
I will advise everyone who trains outside to learn what a heat index is, and to become familiar with how heat indexes can help you plan your outdoor workouts. Google searches for "heat index" and "how to use heat index to plan workout" are good starts.
oh my goodness.....that explains -so- much. when i travel to the US I could always just ride for hours and hours and hours on end on my bike and never so much as get a cramp.
It took me about an entire week of non-stop riding in PA when I traveled to woodward that I got a cramp and that was after riding for an entire week and jumping in the pool for a swim 2-3 times a day.
could exercising in AC help? maybe something like 70F degrees (it gets around 90degrees in the summer time and the humidity usually sits at around 70-100% because i live next to the ocean.)
Interesting!
I'm currently staying in Japan (Tokyo-area), and the Japanese summer is very(!) different from the Danish. The humidity is high, and temperatures are generally higher as well. I still sweat like a horse... 
Sitting next to the Thais in my class is humiliating, haha!
Even though coming from Finland, I didn't have big problems when I was to Bulgaria working out, though I didn't too extended cardio, just some strength training.
However mentally I was exhausted all the time. I was there in a bridge tournament I have honestly never played that bad, not even when drunk silly. My coach even made me sit out one day which I spent in swimming pool and drank so many litres I couldn't even count.
One thing to try is taking some piece of cloth, wet it with ice cold water and wrap it around wrist or even neck if you can handle it. Cools whole body quite effectively.
I have troubles with heat, especially whenever the sun is out. I live in Louisiana so the humidity also has an effect, but I still do poorly even in areas with low humidity. I worked one summer as a manual laborer outside, and I was left feeling so drained after work that I would go home and stayed in a semi-conscious state until I would go to sleep. No matter how much water I drank or salt and minerals I tried to take in, I still felt drained and lethargic. I never fully acclimatized to the heat even after a few months. I, however, do very well in chilly to moderately cold weather so I either produce more heat than others or am less efficient at dissipating it.
Flameous said:One thing to try is taking some piece of cloth, wet it with ice cold water and wrap it around wrist or even neck if you can handle it. Cools whole body quite effectively.
Great advice. Other places such as armpits, ankles, knees, elbows, and inner thighs also work great too. I personally prefer to use an ice pack if I must cool down quickly, and I feel like a cold shower would be too much of a shock. I find that the armpits and neck to be the most convenient. Although I find it to be the most uncomfortable, I find that the upper inner thigh area works the fastest.
I let the kids suck on ice cubes. Works wonders. For snack, frozen juice cubes are great.