5 things you should know about exercising in the heat

1) Working out in hot weather makes your body work harder than the equivalent workout in cooler weather.

Why? Because your body not only needs to pump blood to the muscles being used to exercise, but in order to keep your body temperature down, the circulatory system needs to carry more blood to the skin in order to dissipate heat.

Result: In hotter climates at any given pace, your heart rate will be higher than usual, reducing your ability to work as hard.

2) Drinking enough water is even more critical when exercising in hot weather.

Why? Consider sweating as your body’s own air conditioning system. If there is a shortage of water to fuel the system it will not perform optimally. The human body can adapt to heat within a couple of weeks, but it can never get used to dehydration.

Result: To maintain your sweat rate, you need to ensure you drink enough water.

3) Dehydration can disturb cellular fluid and electrolyte balance

How? Heaving sweating leads to an excess loss of body water causing dehydration. Sweat is primarily water, but electrolytes can be lost via sweat as well.

Result: Studies have shown that by achieving a healthy balanced diet an electrolyte deficiency is not likely to occur even in endurance events like marathon running.

4) A reduction in body weight of 2-3% can significantly impair exercise performance and duration of an exercise session

How? Water loss & therefore dehydration reduces the volume of blood pushed around by the body each time the heart beats and reduces the amount of blood pumped over time.

Result: Insufficient oxygen is transported to the working muscles in order to make energy, thus sustaining exercise is harder and fatigue sets in early.

5) Lost body fluids are best replaced with pure water

Why? Sports drinks are often used to rehydrate the body after strenuous exercise and they have been proven to boost energy and delay fatigue. However, choose wisely. Drinks with a high carbohydrate content are slow to empty from the stomach interfering with rehydration, & can cause bloating and nausea.

Result: Pure water is sufficient to rehydrate the body but if you choose a sports drink, avoid any with a carbohydrate content greater than 8%. 4-8% concentration is optimal.