With summer right around the corner, it’s reasonable to want to spend more time outdoors and in the fresh air. Even though exercising in hot weather can be challenging, it’s still manageable. It just means that you have to be more prepared to not let the heat affect your training and your health. Follow these 3 tips for safer summer exercise.
1. Stay hydrated
Water will be your best friend during the summer. It’s especially important to not only ensure that you’re hydrated during the workout but also before and after as well. You don’t want to go into training dehydrated. Being sufficiently hydrated means that your performance will be better. You will have more energy to get through your training and to push through your workout. It also means that your heart will require less effort to pump blood around your body. Hence, it won’t cause such an excessive spike in your heart rate and body temperature which can make exercise that much harder.
Being hydrated before your workout means that you’re giving your body the best conditions to get through a session in the heat while staying cool. Drinking during your workout helps to reduce heat stress and doing so afterwards means that you’re replenishing the fluid you’ve lost.
2. Wear the right clothes
What you wear can make a significant difference in staying cool while working out. It’s not enough to just trade in long leggings with shorts and your hoodies for t-shirts or crop tops. The material plays a pivotal role in heat diffusion and sweat evaporation.
Wear fitness apparel that is made out of moisture-wicking material. This is ideal because when you sweat during a workout, the sweat gets transferred onto your clothes. Depending on the material that you’re wearing, the sweat will be absorbed into the fabric of your clothes, making it feel heavy and damp.
If you’re wearing moisture-wicking material, then it will facilitate leaving you dry. It uses a process called ‘capillary action’ which means the sweat remains on the surface of your clothes and then to the outer layer. From there, the sweat will then evaporate. You’ll feel cool, fresh and less stick, which is what you want in the summer.
3.Change your exercise time
It will be worth considering the time in which your train when it comes to summertime workouts. If you’re someone who’s used to going for a run in your local park at noon, then you’re definitely going to be feeling the heat much more.
If you’re exercising outdoors, then keep to the cooler times in the day or evening. This’ll mean you’ll spend less time in the humidity and in the sun. It’ll make a significant difference in how well you’ll be able to perform as well as reduce the risk of heat exhaustion and fatigue.
If you’re unable to adjust your workout times, then stick to exercising indoors or on the shade to avoid as much direct sunlight as possible.
Recognize the warning signs
Even when you follow these tips and do your best to stay cool in the heat, it’s still important to be able to recognize the warning signs of heat exhaustion. If you experience any of these signs, stop immediately:
- Lightheadedness and/or dizziness
- Fatigue
- Extreme thirst
- Shortness of breath
- Rapid breathing
Move to the shade or a cooler area and focus on trying to cool down. If you experience any of the above symptoms along with neurological confusion, fainting/collapsing and vomiting, then head to the emergency room straight away as it points to heatstroke.