Hot Weather Workouts

If you live in the DC Metro area, you know that the heat and humidity have been unbearable over the past month. The heat index has been well over 100 many days and just being outside makes you feel like you’re sitting in a sauna. When weather is almost unbearble like this, it’s very difficult to motivate yourself to get moving. If you are regularly used to running, biking, or exercising outdoors, it can be easy to procrastinate and delay your workout until it cools off.

Unfortunately, if you continue to wait for good weather and it doesn’t come (like here in Frederick), all the progress you may have made and the momentum you had built could be gone. There are certainly plenty of reasons to aviod exercising in the heat, such as dehydration, heat stroke and heat exhaustion, all of which can be very dangerous.

If you are planning on working out in the summer sun, there are some basic rules you should follow:

• Keep hydrated by drinking 24 oz. of water several hours prior to exercise.
• Drink 8 oz. every 20 minutes during your exercise session.
• During exercise, it may be more beneficial to drink a sports drink such as Gatorade instead of water to replace lost electrolytes.
• If you feel dizzy, light headed, or nauseous, you need to stop immediately and rest.
• Find shade! It can be up to 10 degrees cooler in the shade and it won’t sap your energy as quickly as being in direct sunlight.
• Build a tolerance to hot weather exercise. The more frequently you do it, the more your body will be able to handle it.
• Wear lightweight, loose clothing and preferably ones with ‘wicking’ fabric to draw sweat away from the body.

Most importantly, be sure to use your common sense when exercise in the heat. Listen to your body. If you don’t feel quite right, it very well may be a sign that your body is not properly adjusting to the conditions. No workout is worth going through a heat stroke or worse.