Exercising can be challenging. Adding hot and humid weather can make it even more so and that is when it is important to take different precautions to ensure you are exercising safely and signs that you may need to change your workouts.
Why is exercising in hot and humid weather more difficult?
When we exercise, there are a few physiological things that happen to help keep the body running optimally while we exert ourselves. A major effect is the body starts to sweat to help keep our body temperature stable. As our body temperature increases with exercise, the sweat will start to build up and, eventually, the air will cause it to evaporate off the skin. Allowing for more opportunities for the body to cool down and will occur in both warm and cool environments.
In hot and humid environments, this process will become more difficult to maintain as you are exercising. When there is a humidex, the air has more moisture than in normal conditions. As your body is trying to evaporate the sweat from the skin, it is not as efficient due to the air already being moist. This is when we start to see excessive sweating and individuals will start to struggle to cool down. As you start to exercise more and your body is unable to regulate its temperature, we start to see individuals start to struggle to maintain higher intensity exercise and the body can eventually start to prevent the person from continuing to focus on vital organ function instead.
As the body sweats, there is also another change in the body that starts to happen. Our sweat is made up of water and electrolytes (like minerals) that help with body function. In normal circumstances, we can easily replenish what we lost during exercise through regular eating and drinking of water. However, with the increase in sweat loss during hotter and more humid environments, the risk of dehydration increases significantly. Though mild dehydration (the feeling of thirst is a key marker of this) may not have a significant effect, as dehydration gets worse and worse so do side effects and potential long-term consequences.
When more extreme levels of dehydration start to set in, the body becomes more and more frantic to keep the vital organs running. Muscles will start to cramp due to low electrolytes because they are no longer able to contract properly. This is the first major sign that someone is severely dehydrated and should be moved into the recovery phase of their program and brought into a cooler setting. However, if it goes unnoticed or unreported, strength and learned skills start to decrease rapidly. Exercisers start to appear confused and disoriented. Some may even stop sweating. The more severe the level of heat illness, the more dehydrated the person has become.
How does one exercise safely in hot and humid conditions?
There are a few things you can do if you are planning to exercise in these conditions.
1) Wear sunscreen: wearing sunscreen will not only prevent a nasty burn but will also reduce your risk of dehydration from that sunburn.
2) Clothing: if you are exercising throughout the day, you may dress differently in the morning than you do in the middle of the day. Layering and having changes of clothing is the best to ensure that you are reducing your risk of any injuries. Additionally, different types of materials work best in hotter environments and darker colors will absorb more heat.
3) Water: staying hydrated throughout the entire day is key, not just drinking a lot of water when you are about to exercise. Having water regularly will also ensure that the body’s electrolytes do not get significantly diluted from drinking a large portion of water at once.
4) Changing the intensity: whether it is a hot day, or the A/C is not working as it should, bringing down the intensity is the best way to ensure you are safe when you are exercising.
5) Breaks: adding more breaks and times to rest will allow the body to take a moment to cool down and lower the body temperature.