Athletes don’t have to ‘go hard’ while exercising outside during a heat wave

Over the past few years, heat waves have become increasingly common to our Canadian summers. As a native Montrealer, I can attest to the fact that it can be difficult to reconcile our desire to train outdoors with the intensity of the seasonal heat. After many months of braving the cold, the warm weather triggers a new sense of urgency within us and any excuse is valid to spend time outdoors. That said, it’s easy to see how staggering humidity levels or new heat records can stop our motivation in regard to exercising outdoors in its tracks.

The truth is that, much like winter, training outdoors in the summer requires some adjustments and preparations.

While I can empathize with the fact that no one wants to look dishevelled in public, we need to accept that sweating is a necessary and inevitable part of exercising outdoors. Sweat is a key part of the body’s response to heat and represents its attempt at regulating our temperature. With this in mind, breathable and sweat-wicking fabric can help us avoid painful chafing and minimize any discomfort that we experience while exercising. It can also be helpful to wear a light hat during your training sessions, ideally one that can be wet at a local water fountain for additional freshness.

There is also a common misconception that exercising outdoors regularly means having to “go hard” and achieve a certain level of intensity. As an athlete, I don’t train the same way every day. I strength train, I go for runs, I stretch and meditate for 30 minutes – my movement practice varies. I’ll adjust it regularly and, in the summer, the weather has a great role to play in that. The heat compounds the effort required to achieve a certain result. And, while spending time in the sun is beneficial when it comes to our Vitamin D intake, that doesn’t necessarily mean that exercising in the sun is always the right choice. Both activities exist in their own silos.

Aside from the obvious reminder to hydrate, there are also micro changes that influence our overall training experience. We can adjust our training schedule to avoid peak periods of direct sunlight. Similarly, we can also tweak the way we fuel our bodies prior to a training session. Digestion acts as a stressor for the body and, combined with the additional work that is being done to regulate your temperature, it can leave you feeling lethargic. Some may find that consuming simple carbohydrates and healthy sugars (such as fruits and all-natural juices) within two hours of exercising can help fuel the body with the energy it needs to sustain a heated movement practice.

Bring your workout outdoors

The following full body workout is a series of six low-impact, low-intensity movements. We chose these exercises because they require little or no equipment, making them easy to do outdoors, and because they’re low-impact, which minimizes cardio exertion in the heat. We recommend that you adapt it based on your goals and preferred level of intensity. Each exercise should be done for 20, 40, or 60 seconds and you should repeat the sequence for one to three rounds.