Feeling hot, hot, hot

It is the middle of March and already in Phoenix it has been 90 degrees.  Sweet Jeebus, it is finally here!  The heat!  I love the heat.  I would much rather run or bike in 110 degree weather than do the same in 30 degree weather.  So I live in the right place.

But running or cycling at 90+ degrees is not something that can be undertaken successfully without some preloading at high temperatures.  A 2003 guide from the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick, MA outlines buildup requirements to train or compete effectively after transitioning to a new environment.

From the guide, which is tailored toward students of special operations training:
"The most important biological adaptation from heat acclimatization is an earlier and greater sweating response, and for this response to improve it needs to be invoked."  Indeed.  If you want to sweat efficiently and more (which you do), you will want to start getting a sweat on now by exposure to a higher temperature environment.

How can you do this?  Don't start by wrapping yourself in plastic garbage bags and running at 4 pm in July.  Start by gradually increasing your general exposure to sun and temperature, then gradually increasing your workout intensity under similar environmental conditions.  Expect a week to two weeks for acclimatization, based on your own fitness and tolerance levels.  The tilt of the earth's axis makes seasonal acclimatization a natural occurrence, but if you expect to workout in extreme temperatures, you may want to begin your transition sooner.

As an added benefit, training at high temperatures may increase your performance at cool (50-60 degrees) temperatures.  A 2010 study conducted at the University of Oregon and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology compared the performance of cyclists who trained at 104 degrees and cyclists who trained at 55 degrees.  Both groups then conducted a performance test at 55 degrees.  The hot-temperature trained group performed 4-8 percent better than the cool-temperature group.  Why?

The body adapts to the stresses placed upon it.  The cardiovascular and circulatory systems of the hot-temperature trained group were adapted to the extreme environment and could perform more efficiently when tested under optimally cool conditions.  I read somewhere that once adapted to high temperatures, your body does not have to expend as much energy to cool itself and therefore has more energy available for the task at hand: speed, power, endurance.

Turn off your air conditioning and get at it.