BLOG | Safe Summer Exercise
With summer - and temperatures - quickly on the rise, many people are tempted to take their workout routine outdoors without taking the adequate safety precautions. Hot weather actually forces your body to circulate more blood to cool off, which increases your heart rate and makes you susceptible to a variety of heat-related illnesses, including heatstroke. Not taking the proper precautions to stay cool and hydrated can spell disaster even for relatively healthy individuals. Therefore, to fight the heat and stay safe this summer, use these following safety precautions:-
1. Drink excess water: According to Discovery Health, you can lose around a litre of water per hour whilst exercising outdoors, raising the bar for induced dehydration. To stay hydrated, keep a water bottle handy and sip as often as possible, even if you're not thirsty. Don't worry about sipping too much - you can never have too much water whilst exercising in hot, humid weather.
2. Exercise in the early morning or evening: This allows you to avoid the sun's harmful UVB rays, which can cause skin damage. Avoiding the sun during peak hours is also ideal for avoiding the sweltering summer heat, which makes it difficult to exercise comfortably.
3. Wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing: Appropriate summer exercise clothing lets more air pass over your body, thus reducing body temperature. Light-coloured clothing also doesn’t absorb the sun's rays as harshly as dark-coloured clothing, making it ideal for summer exercise.
4. Slap on the sunscreen:- Exercising outdoors can increase your risk of sunburn, which reduces your ability to stay cool. The risk of skin cancer is also increased by an alarming 50 percent if you are already at risk of this deadly disease. To stay safe, Cancer Research UK recommends using a sunscreen with a skin protection factor of 15 or more with "broad spectrum" protection, which protects your skin from UVA and UVB radiation. Smooth the sunscreen on all exposed skin areas, including all areas of the face, arms, legs and chest.
5. If you experience signs of heatstroke, stop exercising immediately and get help: Heatstroke is a serious illness caused by excess exercise in hot temperatures, with complications ranging from seizure to death. Symptoms of heatstroke include rapid heartbeat, sweating cessation, confusion, dizziness, headache, nausea and rapid or shallow breathing. If you experience two or more of these symptoms, find a cool, shady place to rest and get medical help immediately.
Remember, you can never be too careful when it comes to exercising outdoors during the summer heat. Stay hydrated, keep your body cool, and avoid humid, hot temperatures to save yourself from potentially dangerous heat-related illnesses.
Labels: summer, workout, body, circulate, cool off, heart rate, heatstroke, hydrated, healthy, safety, water, exercising, outdoors, dehydration, thirsty, skin damage, exercise, sunscreen, heartbeat
Posted by: Theo Wood | 7th July 2010 |
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