Hello Summer!!!

It is hot out here!!!

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere right now, we are ramping up into the summer heat. Does the heat seem to be impacting your workouts? Are you trying to spend more time outside, but feel like it is impossible to workout outside as the weather heats up?

If you are in the South, like I am right now, working out right now outdoors is a bit of a struggle and is only going to get more challenging.

Let’s dive into why the increased temperatures make our workouts seem more challenging and some tips to make them a little easier.

When we workout and when it is hot out, our body creates sweat with the intention that evaporation of the sweat on our skin creates a cooling effect. Humidity makes this a little more difficult as the water takes longer to evaporate. Also, the warmer you are, the more you sweat = more water loss.

Our blood is made up of a lot of water, our blood being able to move quickly through our body is essential to bring oxygen to our muscles and remove C02 and other waste from the muscles to allow for optimal functioning. When we exercise we need more oxygen to our muscles so our hearts have to beat faster or push out larger amounts of blood to get it there. When we sweat a lot, our blood volume starts to decrease. So, our body is forced to increase the heart rate to meet the demand of oxygen and waste removal to keep exercising.

Which means as the temperature increases, our body has to work harder and exercise seems way more difficult at higher temps because our body truly has to work harder to achieve those same results.

While we cannot change the seasons or always adapt to the environment during our workouts we can do a few things to improve our ability to tolerate them.

1. DRINK WATER EARLY AND OFTEN - starting a workout already dehydrated is a surefire way to set yourself up for a difficult workout.

   1. A baseline hydration level (before working out) is ½ oz of water per pound of body weight

   2. When working out you should be replacing 125% of water lost during the workout

2. Start training early to give you body time to start adapting to the temperature changes. It takes about 2 weeks for our body to adapt to a new environment.

3. Using cooling bandanas to help reduce body temperature

4. Add a fan to improve sweat evaporation to improve your body cooling

5. Make sure you are fueled properly- glucose is the fastest form of energy for our bodies and doesn’t take as much energy as other sources to use. Eat enough carbs around and during your workouts to reduce the stress on your body to stay fueled

Working out outside has many benefits and can be very enjoyable, especially since we cannot always get in an outdoor workout. However, They can be much more difficult— THAT IS OKAY! Your body has to work harder and you may not be able to lift the same weights or run as fast, but that is alright and will set you up to continue your success as the weather cools off in the fall. Enjoy the beautiful time outdoors while it is here!