Training in the heat

**money** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 11:51am

In another thread, gyms that either don't air condition or crank the heat up were mentioned as far as hard-core training.

Originally Posted by Yamabushi7

...kept propane heaters going all day when it was over 100 degrees outside. Tony also ran 5 miles up from the bottom of the American river canyon in the 100 degree heat. I have trained in Jujitsu dojos for many years and have never experienced such brutal training conditions.

Originally Posted by Kid Dynamite

I trained in a boxing gym for about 2 years in a facility (if you want to call it that) that had no A/C in the South Florida heat.

Quite simply the most brutal workout I have ever had. Most guys would usually come in and quit in a few days. The trainers would chuckle when new guys would come in and wonder how long they would last.

In my own gym, my coach does keep it pretty warm - often 80 degrees or higher. Anecdotally it makes for a hard workout, but on those days when it's cooler I feel like I've got some extra juice. It makes sense to me in the train hard, fight easy methodology.

What are your thoughts on training in the heat?

**searcher66071** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 12:23pm

For me, I love it. I learned a hard lesson in 1996 boxing in August, under a tent at The Missouri State fair. I had been training in a gym underneath a city hall gym here in Kansas. It was nice and cool, which kept me from getting acclimated to the heat. And I payed for it during my fight. I ended up winning, but I never wanted to feel like that again. Since that time, I try to not train in any air conditioned gyms or schools. My own school does have air condtioning, but we keep the temps pretty warm. It really has nothing to do with us making the workouts and training "hard-core", but is really more about keeping the students used to outdoor tempetatures. If I want the classes or workouts to be harder, I just push a bit more. JMHO.

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 2:09pm

Training in the heat can be deadly if you're not careful. If it gets hot enough, your body can't get rid of its heat fast enough (to stay at 98.6F), your hypothalamus can overheat, you'll get heat exhaustion followed by heat stroke and die. It has happened to star athletes.

Remember the sweat lodge deaths? They thought they were being pretty hardcore too. But the heat that a group of people are giving off is important to a room...no AC or poor ventilation and that heat will stack up.

Keeping cool is an important part of exercising properly, it's why we sweat. If you exercise heavily in heat and suddenly stop sweating, you might be in serious medical trouble. Overheating your body to temperatures you are not conditioned for can physically harm you. If you do train in heat, the water you drink should be sufficiently cooled.

In fact, training in a colder environment increases your metabolism and calorie burn even more, because you lose heat much faster and your body has to compensate to maintain its temp.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cold-w...olism-ft123793

http://www.livestrong.com/article/58...sm-cold-water/

**Permalost** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 4:37pm

I train in a garage with the door open with around 4 other people, and this summer has been gnarly. OTOH I find that when its so hot outside, I'm more flexible and less creaky, and it doesn't take as long to get limbered up before training. Since we do a lot of weapon stuff, there's lots of grabbing and capturing arms, and when they get too sweaty, they're hard to grab. In a way, its good training because its the kind of challenge that may come up in the real world (sweat, blood, rain, Turkish wrestling oil etc).

**Res Judicata** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 8:38pm

W. Rabbit actually gave good advice.

Cold sucks, and you're probably more likely to get some kind of physical injury than in warm weather. But heat can and will kill you. Especially if you do something wearing a heavy gi (e.g. Judo). This goes double for stocky guys like me -- lower surface area relative to mass as compared to long, thin guys.

**jubei33** · Posted On: 8/29/2011 9:52pm

The temps in southern Japan are pretty brutal, but its not so much the temp that gets you its the humidity. It'll just strip the water out of you and you have to be careful to not overdo it. They have 'salt candy' here, which is just a better tasting salt tablet the football coach gave out in high school. A piece of hard candy works wonders in those shaky legs situations.

today the temp is 35 C/65% humidity: plenty of liquids on these kind of hot days.

**hungryjoe** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 1:03am

Originally Posted by jubei33

The temps in southern Japan are pretty brutal, but its not so much the temp that gets you its the humidity. It'll just strip the water out of you and you have to be careful to not overdo it. They have 'salt candy' here, which is just a better tasting salt tablet the football coach gave out in high school. A piece of hard candy works wonders in those shaky legs situations.

today the temp is 35 C/65% humidity: plenty of liquids on these kind of hot days.

Grow a set of nuts.

No one dropped out, as far as I can remember, when I was stationed on Okinawa.

Seriously though - keep the fluids in you. If you've stopped sweating, it's time to stop everything else.

.......disclaimer.......

I'm the sweaty old guy, who's been hurt more when cold.

**jubei33** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 3:05am

Originally Posted by hungryjoe

Grow a set of nuts.

No one dropped out, as far as I can remember, when I was stationed on Okinawa.

Seriously though - keep the fluids in you. If you've stopped sweating, it's time to stop everything else.

.......disclaimer.......

I'm the sweaty old guy, who's been hurt more when cold.

Have a salt tablet.

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 9:04am

Something else I do is add a little fruit juice or Gatorade (or even table salt) to my drinking water if I know it'll be hot. Drinking too much straight water and sweating heavily over time will cause you to dilute your body's electrolyte content, which has all sorts of negative effects esp. on muscles as your body begins to conduct electrical charge less efficiently.

Our training hall AC isn't always working and there is almost no ventilation so even 5-10 people training the room will go over 100 degrees. I personally cannot train very long in that kind of heat without having to stop and find somewhere to cool off.

**Eddie Hardon** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 11:27am

Take more water in with you.

Try some bananas later in the day.

Put some extra salt on your chips (French or Freedom Fries to you 'Mericans).

Hottest. Er, it's a toss up between La Sante in Lanzarote and Mauritius. Don't wear a Black cotton Gi as you may pass out. I'm not joking on this point, as it attracts and retains heat.

You can probably wring your Gi out afterwards....