Things To Consider When Doing Sports In Hot Weather; With the arrival of the summer season and the end of the bans, the excitement of being outside and carrying our daily activities to the open air has taken over us. Although the refreshing energy of the summer season manifests itself in our body with the need to move more, even walking outside with the increase in temperature and humidity can be a cause of fatigue and exhaustion in itself. In this post, we will tell you the things to consider when doing sports in hot weather.
As soon as we enter the house from the outside, we can feel quite tired even if we haven’t moved much, and we may need to rest more than ever after exercising in hot weather. For those who carry their exercise routine to the open air, high temperatures and humidity can cause serious symptoms that can threaten their health and cause dangerous disorders such as sunstroke.
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What happens in our body when we exercise in hot weather?
Things To Consider When Doing Sports In Hot Weather; More muscle contraction while doing sports and moving causes more heat to be released in the body and activates a series of cooling mechanisms to maintain the body’s internal temperature, which should be constant. The regulation of the body’s internal temperature is governed by the hypothalamus region of the brain. The anterior part of the hypothalamus directs the physiological responses to regulate the increase in body temperature, while the posterior part coordinates the processes necessary for warming the body in cold weather.
When you move or exercise in an environment where the outdoor temperature is high, the receptors on your skin detect the increase in temperature and begin to send signals to your hypothalamus, and in line with these messages, the hypothalamus initiates a series of physiological responses in order to maintain the constant temperature of the body. With the signals sent from the hypothalamus to different parts of the body, sweat glands are activated, blood vessels expand, and by getting closer to the skin surface, the temperature rising inside the body is balanced with the heat on the cooled skin surface.
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The work of this heat balancing system, which the body manages by itself without the need for any support; In cases where the air is extremely hot and the humidity is high, it can become unbalanced, especially when the internal temperature of the body increases too much with exercise and intense movement. Exercising and moving in a humid environment can become much more challenging and dangerous for the body, as the body has difficulty in sweating when the humidity in the air is very intense.
Why do we get tired more when doing sports in extremely hot weather?
Things To Consider When Doing Sports In Hot Weather; While exercising in hot weather makes it much more difficult for the body to regulate its own temperature, it can also reduce our exercise performance and cause us to get tired much faster.
When you try to exercise in hot weather and your hypothalamus senses a sudden rise in temperature in the body, it sends less neural stimulation to your muscles to prevent the body from overheating by moving, after being stimulated by feedback from skin receptors. This decrease in nervous stimulation can cause a feeling of fatigue.
Another reason why we get tired more quickly when exercising and moving in hot weather is that as the temperature rises, the muscles produce more free radicals and the increased amount of free radicals creates a feeling of fatigue. Studies show that when exercising in a hot environment, glycogen stores in the muscles are depleted faster, and the rapid depletion of glycogen brings the feeling of fatigue.
Therefore, both the signals transmitted from the hypothalamus and the physiological processes such as the increase of free radicals are among the most important reasons why we get tired faster when moving in hot weather.
Ways to move without getting tired in hot weather
Although it is challenging to exercise and move in the heat, it is possible to do sports and move safely by taking the necessary precautions.
Prefer early morning and late evening hours, which are relatively cooler
Since the air temperature is relatively lower in the morning and evening in summer, these are the most suitable times to train and move outside. Therefore, you can prefer these times when the temperature is low so that your body temperature can be maintained and your systems are not affected by the air temperature.
Since the air temperature is relatively lower in the morning and evening in summer, these are the most suitable times to train and move outside. Therefore, you can prefer these times when the temperature is low so that your body temperature can be maintained and your systems are not affected by the air temperature.
Besides, no matter what time of day you are training, you should make sure to stay in the shade as much as possible and dress appropriately. You can choose sports clothes made of breathable, lightweight fabrics that will not prevent your sweat from evaporating. In addition, being aware of the fact that your skin will be more exposed to the harmful rays of the sun because you are outside, you can use a sunscreen with a high protection factor, and take care to renew your sunscreen every 2 hours as you will sweat heavily.
Change your exercise program if necessary
The intense humidity in the air is one of the most important challenges your body faces in activating its self-cooling mechanism. When we exercise and move when the air temperature is high, the first thing the body does is to try to cool itself by producing more sweat in order to balance the increased body temperature.
However, when the air is extremely humid, it may not be possible for sweat to evaporate and cool the body in this way. For this reason, when you want to exercise outside, you should definitely consider the humidity level, and when the humidity is very high, you should exercise indoors rather than outdoors, and you should be aware that you have to cancel your exercise program on some days.
It is extremely important to be able to stretch your exercise program according to the temperature and humidity of the air in the summer months, cancel your program on some days and reduce the intensity and hours of exercise in order to protect your health. You should not neglect to listen to your body and give it time to be patient to adapt to changing conditions.
Drink plenty of fluids in accordance with your exercise and activity intensity
Dehydration is one of the most important issues for those who train outdoors. In the summer months when the weather is very hot, always have a sugar-free sports drink or mineral water containing electrolytes or plenty of minerals with you. Especially if you are training for long periods of time, be sure to drink 1 or 1.5 liters of water during exercise, and to consume plenty of water and minerals to regain the water you lost after exercise.
To keep track of your body’s water content, you can check the color of your urine. Your urine should ideally be a clear and pale yellow color. Dark-colored urine with a strong ammonia smell is an indication that your body is dehydrated. Focusing on the signals your body gives during and after the exercise, take care to drink water whenever you feel thirsty, to determine the amount you need to consume in accordance with your exercise intensity even if you do not feel thirsty, and to consume this amount of liquid.
In order to meet your body’s water and mineral needs at the same time, in addition to liquids, you can consume seasonal fruits and vegetables with high water and mineral content in plenty, fresh and raw; You can increase the amount of water and minerals you consume by sweetening the water you drink with these fruits and vegetables.
Listen to your body signals
When your body overheats, meaning it reaches an average temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or higher, you can get sunstroke. In addition to its symptoms such as sunstroke, dizziness, nausea and fatigue, it can turn into a situation that requires urgent intervention, as it can reach such serious dimensions that it can cause organ damage. Therefore, being aware of the most common symptoms of sunstroke, such as nausea, vomiting, impaired mental functioning, rapid heartbeat and hyperventilation (very rapid and shallow breathing), should be considered when exercising in hot weather and on the go for long periods of time. is one of the most important issues.
As soon as you notice these symptoms, you should stop the exercise and rest for a while in a cool, shaded place with air conditioning if possible. If your symptoms still persist after you have rested, we recommend that you go to the nearest health facility.
In conclusion, we can say that exercising and moving in hot weather is extremely tiring and challenging. However, by regulating certain conditions appropriately, you can enjoy a pleasant exercise in the open air without getting tired and without harming your body.
