Working out while heat is on has its advantages
Source: Agencies |
June 19, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN it comes to exercise, some like it hot, some like it hotter, and some like it under the air conditioner.
Experts say heat can help your workout, boosting circulation and increasing flexibility, but it's a relationship that can also turn nasty.
"Your body is engineered to exercise in the heat," said Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise science at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama. "This is why we sweat."
Olson, who is also an expert with the American College of Sports Medicine, said it's actually the evaporation of sweat from the skin that cools our bodies to maintain our normal body temperature.
Heat also speeds up the heart rate, increasing the circulation of blood around the body, including the muscles, decreasing friction and making it more comfortable to stretch, she said.
But heat-related illnesses that strike during a sport or recreational activity send nearly 6,000 people in the United States to emergency rooms every year, according to a report released in 2011 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sometimes the problem is really not the heat, but the humidity. "If it is too humid, sweat cannot evaporate and this can prove dangerous, causing a heat injury, such as dehydration, heat cramps or heat stroke," Olson said.
Dr Cedric X Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, said it's usually a combination of the two.
"With humidity the environment is not conducive to evaporation, so the body stores more heat, the core temperature goes up, and your physical performance in negatively impacted," he said.
Experts say heat can help your workout, boosting circulation and increasing flexibility, but it's a relationship that can also turn nasty.
"Your body is engineered to exercise in the heat," said Michele Olson, PhD, professor of exercise science at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama. "This is why we sweat."
Olson, who is also an expert with the American College of Sports Medicine, said it's actually the evaporation of sweat from the skin that cools our bodies to maintain our normal body temperature.
Heat also speeds up the heart rate, increasing the circulation of blood around the body, including the muscles, decreasing friction and making it more comfortable to stretch, she said.
But heat-related illnesses that strike during a sport or recreational activity send nearly 6,000 people in the United States to emergency rooms every year, according to a report released in 2011 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sometimes the problem is really not the heat, but the humidity. "If it is too humid, sweat cannot evaporate and this can prove dangerous, causing a heat injury, such as dehydration, heat cramps or heat stroke," Olson said.
Dr Cedric X Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, said it's usually a combination of the two.
"With humidity the environment is not conducive to evaporation, so the body stores more heat, the core temperature goes up, and your physical performance in negatively impacted," he said.
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