Safe to workout in the heat?

[BananaMan]

boston is going through a little heat wave right now. its been 95-100 every day. but thats not the problem. the humidity is around 50% which makes it feel like 200 degrees and in boiling water. is it safe to workout in this type of weather? most people i know have been taking a few days off cause they cant handle the heat. anything i should watch for if i work out? dehydration or sun stroke or something?

god, its soo freakin hot... just sitting here and sweating and all sticky. man i hate humidity

[relaxed]

I have trained in the heat before, not that much fun (but I'm not a big fan of heat anyway). Common sense mostly, keep hydrated of course and remember your body has a harder time keeping the more critical organs like your brain cool if your core temperature is high.
Also if you're going to train outside, stay out of direct sunlight if possible and cover your head so you don't boil your egg!!

Cheers

[SevenStar]

Only 50% humidity? Try living in the south. It's cool to work out in the heat, just be sure to play it safe - keep water in your system. stop if you begin to feel uncomfortable, etc. Wear sunscreen, and train in the shade if possible. If you can train inside instead of outside, then do so.

What trime of day will you be training? If you have control over the time, shoot for ealier in the the day or sometime in the eveing. The sun will be directly over head around mid day and early afternoon, so it will be hottest during those times.

[Serpent]

Exactly! 50% humidity is nothing! When you do train make sure you stay well hydrated and out of direct sun. Otherwise, go for it!

Why do you think places like Africa turn out such great long distance runners? Australia turns out great atheletes too! It's cos they train in much hotter conditions, then often compete in cooler climes. Humidity in Australia can get to well over 90% in places!

[IronFist]

I wouldn't. I don't like the heat that much. I'd rather work out inside :)

Be careful.

IronFist

[Kungfu boy]

I personally live in Texas which is always pretty hot. Any other southern USA members can tell you it gets pretty scorched down here. I would limit my outside workouts to early morning/late evening. Or the occassional nice day outside. But always have plenty of water. I used to run high school track and they just ran us into the ground, we were allowed very little water etc. We'd run 2-3 miles at a time with no water break. It really sucked.

I personally want to get back into the running game to help build leg strength/endurance and I just can't run for 20-30 minutes on a treadmill, its boring to me. So I need to be outside, but I'm gonna pick good times and drink lotsa water when I do it. I really don't worry about the heat unless I'm running. Forms, shadowboxing etc. aren't that strenious.

[AhBenG]

wtf 50%? Try Malaysia. 100%.... 100% of the time.

You sit still, in an un-airconditioned room, and you'll start sweating. 25 degrees there is like 35 degrees down here in Melbourne, Australia.

You sweat -like hell-

[BananaMan]

was watching the weather last night. turns out boston and dc are the hottest spots IN THE COUNTRY right now. boston was 10 degrees hotter than florida or texas. dc was the hottest with boston being 2 degrees behind. weird stuff.
and the humidity is constantly changing here with the rain. its always between 50-100

i think the heat wave is coming to an end finally though. supposed to drop to 70's tomorrow, but back int the 80's/90's sunday. hopefully, we can stay out of the 90's

[guohuen]

A lot of great advice, particularly stay hydrated. I got dehydrated and collapsed from heat exaustion once when I was in the service. Pretty strange experience. We were moving at a double time through triple canopy to set up an ambush ten klics away and I saw the black come from all sides and take my vision away. I hit the ground face first. Someone poured half a canteen of water on my head and the other half down my throat. Felt like getting hit with a massive dose of speed. I got up and ran so fast we caught up and passed everyone. The point man had to grab my rucksack to keep me from going ahead. When we got to the AO they had to sit on me to keep me from figiting too much. Shot up everything that moved. Have no idea if I hit anything. Had amnesea for the next twelve hours. Couldn't remember mine or anyone elses name or the name of anything but could still funtion. Frustrating and strange experience. Don't recommend it .

[respectred]

you should consider researching a way to put your dehydration experience in pill form. that thing would sell like hotcakes to many a young "raver". people pay good money for experiences like that.

[guohuen]

I think it's already been done. They call it atropine.

[yu shan]

Grew up in central Florida, talk about humidity. Our friends in the NE do deal with some strange (short term) heat. To me heat is good, my body is more flexible and seemingly pain free. You must be careful if you are not use to the heat, train in the am or inside, drink your water. We used to put melons on ice, about half way in, break and devour the fruit. Makes a nice cool down and a good replenishment.

By the way, not everyone in Tennessee is a hillbilly...

[ewallace]

One thing I can tell you for sure is that if you do work out in the heat, do not sit down in front of a cool fan or air conditioner for a long period of time while drinking COLD liquids immediatley after you are done. I did that after football practice once and my temp shot up to 105 degrees (f) in 1 hour.

[Cody]

You've already received lots of good horse sense here. Bottom line is your heat tolerance. not working out in sun. being sensible. Also, what you're used to.
Something I didn't see mentioned here was heat exhaustion, which can be a killer. Even in early stages, you're not as alert as you think you are. And, you might be pleased cause you're not sweating all over the place. That is the clue. It's hot and humid and you're pristinely dry. Then, there's the headache. So, if you stop sweating and don't feel so good, stop everything and use cold compresses, fluids.

Cody