Beat the Heat and Still Have Fun Outdoors

Summer is here and temperatures are rising again to uncomfortable levels. It’s time to start thinking about how to stay safe while exercising or playing sports in the sun.

You could take the easy way out and find an air-conditioned room and wait four or five months before venturing outside again. But where’s the fun in that?

An active lifestyle is such an important component of staying healthy. Exercise and other outdoor activities help you lose weight, improve your mental outlook and lower your risk for a wide range of disorders and diseases.

Regardless of what the temperatures are doing, you can still enjoy the outdoors. Just be smart about it. But before we explore some simple coping strategies, let’s take a moment to consider the potential dangers of overheating.

Heat Exhaustion vs. Heat Stroke

For people who are active in the summer months, two of the primary worries are exertional heat exhaustion and exertional heat stroke. Both conditions are brought on by pushing yourself too far. Among the symptoms for each:

Heat exhaustion

• Heavy sweating
• Cold or clammy skin
• Fast, weak pulse
• Nausea
• Muscle cramps
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Fainting

Heat Stroke

• Body temperature at 105 degrees or higher
• Hot, red, dry or damp skin
• Fast, strong pulse
• Losing consciousness
• Confusion
• Cognitive impairment

The two conditions share several symptoms. The key difference with heat stroke is the body temperature and dysfunction of the central nervous system – including acting or talking erratically. Those differences are important, as heat stroke is considered a medical emergency. Often people experiencing heat stroke don’t even realize they have a problem. Early diagnosis often relies on friends, teammates or family members noticing something is amiss.

You can protect yourself from heat-related illnesses with a few simple strategies:

• Know Yourself. You know your own strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. Have you ever had trouble or complications when exercising in the heat? Have you felt like throwing up? Has your energy drained away? Has your performance declined substantially? And have you spent any time in recent years exercising in hot, humid weather? This self-screening can help you assess your own vulnerabilities and take precautions.
• Be careful if you’ve been sick. A recent illness, particularly an upper respiratory infection, can make you particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. You need the full strength of your lungs and respiratory system to cool your body. And just because your symptoms have subsided, that doesn’t mean your body has fully recovered. If you have any doubts, talk with your doctor.
• Stay hydrated. It is difficult to say exactly how much water you should be drinking, but you need to replace the water you lose while exercising. Set a general goal of not losing more than 2 percent of your body mass. A good way to establish a baseline is to weigh yourself before you exercise and then again afterward. The difference is what you lost while sweating. That’s what you want to replace. You can also measure your hydration by urine color. Your target color resembles a light-yellow lemonade. If your urine is dark yellow, that’s a sign that you are still dehydrated.
• Avoid the hottest part of the day. We know that the hottest time of the day tends to be in the afternoons. Plan your workouts for mornings or late afternoons when temperatures are a little milder. And take advantage of shade whenever you can. Running on a tree-lined street can be more comfortable than running in direct sunlight.
• Wear the right clothes. Light, breathable clothing can help your body regulate its temperature. Pick fabrics that absorb sweat and help with evaporation. Light colors can reflect heat better than darker colors. It’s also important to keep your head cool by wearing a hat – possibly soaked in water to increase your comfort level.
• Listen to your body. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke don’t appear without warning. They generally occur when you ignore early warning signs and symptoms. Pay attention if you start feeling dizzy or nauseous, develop a headache or start sweating profusely. These are signs that you should slow down. Find a cool spot in the shade, drink some water and give your body a chance to recover. In more extreme cases of heat exhaustion, immerse yourself in a pool or some other body of water. But if you fear you may be experiencing a heat stroke, seek immediate medical attention.