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Warm or hot weather is an open invitation for you to exercise outdoors but there are extra precautions you have to consider when you are out there.
To fully understand why you need to take such precautions, first you need to know something about how your body functions during exercise in general.
The physical and mental activities you do are powered by the calories you eat, which is how you can burn off several hundred calories during a good workout. Heat is just a by-product of exercise, which then must be removed from your body through sweat to prevent overheating.
It is the evaporation of sweat, not simply sweating itself, that actually cools the body. Sweating also means that your body loses a substantial amount of water to help you stay cool but that water needs to be replaced.
If you lose a significant amount of your body weight via sweat, it starts to affect your performance and put you at risk of a heat-related illness. It’s important to remember to never restrict water consumption when training outdoors, even if you don’t feel thirsty.
Here are few simple steps that will help you stay cool during your outdoor activity:
Go light:
Wear loose light-colored attires on hot days so that radiant heat is less likely to be absorbed via your clothing. Such attire can also help especially if you have a moisture-wicking fabric that can keep moisture away from your skin and dry quickly.
Dress wisely:
Don’t wear any other type of clothing or rubber garments that are designed to make you sweat more. Such clothes don’t increase the amount of work you do, they only interfere with your body’s ability to regulate heat. Also, if such clothing is soaked with sweat and you take too long to take them off, they can cause illness such as pneumonia, flu and cold.
Hydrate:
Drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise. If you can, look for a sport drink with electrolytes like potassium and sodium that your body loses via sweat. You need to schedule more frequent water breaks to cool off if you are working out midday or in the afternoon.
Stay alert:
Listen to your body always. Stop if you are feeling lightheaded, nauseous or faint. Try to train during the cooler part of the day that is either early in the morning or late evening. Train in shady areas rather than in direct sunlight.
Shift gears:
Pull back on the intensity and duration of your outdoor workouts. This may mean walking or jogging instead of doing those intense outdoor courses. You can also switch your training to a pool-based workout like swimming.
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