Running in Hot Weather: Benefits of Running in the Heat (2023)

FAQs

Is there any benefit to running in the heat? ›

In fact, running in the heat can be very beneficial to your training. What is this? As noted, research shows that running in heat and humidity is the same as training at altitude. Running in hot weather puts stress on the cardiovascular system making your heart stronger.

Believe it or not, cold weather is actually an ideal condition for most runners according to Tom Holland, an exercise physiologist, sports performance coach, and author of The Marathon Method. "The colder the weather, the less heat stress on the body, which makes it significantly easier to run," Holland explains.

Exercising in hot weather accelerates fluid loss even more. Heat stress occurs when sweat can't evaporate fast enough to keep the body sufficiently cool. Many of the symptoms occur as a result of excessive loss of body salts and water (dehydration).

The heat is the most difficult element for runners to compete in and race well. As mentioned previously, with the rise in core body temperature, a runner will have less oxygen available to working muscles, become dehydrated, and suffer a decline in performance.

Understand heat index danagers: Avoid running outside if the heat is above 98.6 degrees and the humidity is above 70-80%. If the humidity in the air is so high that it prevents the process of evaporation of sweat from the skin, you can quickly overheat and literally cook your insides from an elevated body temperature.

But while running in the heat may be considered a risk to some people—such as children, the elderly, and pregnant women—as long as precautions are taken, running in temperatures as high as 86–95°F is fine.

Put simply, yes, you do burn more calories – and fat – when running in the heat. Why? It's all about the sweat factor. In short, to help regulate its temperature, your body usually sweats more when working out in hot conditions.

"Of all the climate measurements we take to assess heat risk for our runners, humidity is the biggest factor," says George Chiampas, D.O., the medical director of the Chicago Marathon. Humidity makes warm summer runs even more taxing because the higher the moisture content of the air, the hotter it feels.

Heat acclimatization is the improvement in heat tolerance that comes from gradually increasing the intensity or duration of work performed in a hot setting. The best way to acclimatize yourself to the heat is to increase the workload performed in a hot setting gradually over a period of 1–2 weeks.

Generally, when the heat index is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, you should use extreme caution when heading outdoors for activity or intense exercise. When the temperatures are high, there is an increased risk of serious heat-related illnesses.

Does working out in the heat make you weaker? ›

If your body cannot get rid of the extra heat, your body temperature will rise. In heat exhaustion, your body temperature may rise to 101°F (38.3°C) to 104°F (40°C). This can make you feel weak and dizzy. Your heart may not be able to pump enough blood.

Yes it's possible but you will need to manage carefully in terms of your body's ability to handle the heat as well as the distance you can run.

Getting acclimated to working out in heat and humidity typically takes 10 to 14 days of exposure in exercise sessions that last 60 to 90 minutes.

Your only alternative is to slow down. “Basically, when the air temperature exceeds 80 degrees and the humidity exceeds 70 percent, you will find that performance drops markedly,” Armstrong says. “When the air temperature exceeds 80 degrees and the humidity exceeds 70 percent, performance drops.”

What is important to understand is that body temperatures may vary from person to person depending on their age, activity and the time of the day. While all humans are warm blooded and can regulate their body temperatures, there are some people who may feel colder or hotter than other individuals.

Check for signs of heat exhaustion

dizziness. headache. feeling sick or being sick. excessive sweating and skin becoming pale and clammy or getting a heat rash, but a change in skin colour can be harder to see on brown and black skin.

Though you burn more calories in the heat, its role in weight loss is minimal and decreases as you acclimate to exercising in warmer climates.

At first, this rise in temperature aids performance by increasing blood flow to the working muscles – hence, the importance of warming-up before hard workouts and races. However, once your internal body temperature gets above 102 degrees you start to experience a significant drop in performance.

With that said, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends runners exercise caution when deciding whether to run outside when the air temperature falls below -18 °F (-27 °C) because tissue injury can occur in 30 minutes or less under these conditions.

Heat Index: 130+ degrees F Health Effect: Heatstroke/sunstroke is highly likely with continued exposure Recommendations: Avoid strenuous outdoor activity. Stay indoors in an air conditioned facility. Stay well-hydrated.

How do you run in Florida heat? ›

The answer is NO. The amount of sweat is not an indicator of a good workout or increased fat loss. It is a myth.

While sweating is good for us, it's not a sign of an effective workout or an indicator of calories burned. For example, if you're trying to lose weight, don't make the mistake of trying to “sweat it out” or try to sweat more than someone in your group training.

Running faster burns more calories and helps you lose weight in three ways. (1) You burn about 100 calories for every mile you run. But as intensity increases, so does calorie burning—up to 10 calories per minute per mile.

The more humid it is, the more water there is in the air, and thus the evaporation of sweat is more difficult. In this case, sweat stays on your skin, signaling the lack of evaporation and cooling. When the apparent temperature is between 90-105 degrees, runners can face heat exhaustion or heat cramps.

Will the humidity rise if the heat is turned up? Contrary to popular belief, heating the air actually lowers the relative humidity. This is because, as the temperature of the air increases, the air can hold more molecules, and its relative humidity goes down.

The extra work for the heart and the lungs can combine with fluid and salt loss to cause a range of problems. Mild effects include the familiar red itchy heat rash. As our bodies work harder, blood vessels widen and dilate and fluid can leak through their walls.

Heat intolerance is also called hypersensitivity to heat. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, weakness, cramping, or nausea. This usually happens because your body isn't regulating its temperature properly.

Whether you are at the pool, out in the yard, or just relaxing in the shade, hot temperatures will eventually cause you to feel tired. The best way to stop or even reverse this is to stay hydrated. Hydration replaces the fluid loss caused by sweating.

How do you survive 110 degree heat? ›

They found skeletal muscle and plasma lactate concentrations were greater during exercise in the heat.

Heat has been proven to reduce cellular damage following musculoskeletal injury and also can aid in muscle growth through the expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) . Heat therapy also has been shown to reduce muscle soreness and improve mobility and performance following workouts.

Heatstroke is a condition caused by your body overheating, usually as a result of prolonged exposure to or physical exertion in high temperatures. This most serious form of heat injury, heatstroke, can occur if your body temperature rises to 104 F (40 C) or higher.

The body's metabolism is responsible for the production of energy, including heat. Although men and women maintain an internal body temperature of 98.6 degrees, men typically have more muscle mass and generate more heat by using more calories to fuel those extra muscles.

Yes. In some rare cases, anxiety symptoms may lead to a rise in body temperature. This is sometimes referred to as psychogenic fever, or a fever caused by psychological reasons.

Sweating with weight gain may be obesity from caloric intake, liver failure, or congestive heart failure. Also consider depression or a medication side effect.

Dr. Youngquist: The short answer, Scot, is yes, you can build up tolerance to heat exposure, and this has been shown for some time now, experimentally, with human volunteer subjects, that you can take them and, typically, under conditions of exercise.

Exercising outdoors on a hot day can cause heat exhaustion. But humidity also plays a large role. In high humidity, your body can't use sweat to cool itself.

Does sweating burn belly fat? ›

Can Sweating Burn Fat? Technically, no. You'll probably break a sweat during an intense fat-burning workout — but the sweat isn't the reason you burn fat. So even if you're sitting in a pool of your own sweat, that doesn't automatically mean you've just burned a ton of fat.

Sweating itself doesn't burn a measurable amount of calories, but sweating out enough liquid will cause you to lose water weight. It's only a temporary loss, though. Once you rehydrate by drinking water or eating, you'll immediately regain any lost weight.

The question is not how often should you run to burn belly fat - more important is the type of running you do. Studies have shown that high-intensity workouts which involve a high level of exertion for a short period of time are more effective at burning fat, particularly in the belly.

"Of all the climate measurements we take to assess heat risk for our runners, humidity is the biggest factor," says George Chiampas, D.O., the medical director of the Chicago Marathon. Humidity makes warm summer runs even more taxing because the higher the moisture content of the air, the hotter it feels.

On a hot day, your cardiovascular system ramps up its efforts to radiate heat to cool you down. Your heart beats faster and pumps harder, and may circulate two to four times as much blood each minute as it does on a cool day.

In extreme summer heat, or in prolonged periods of outdoor exposure to hot temperatures, our bodies work overtime to regulate how we feel. It takes massive amounts of energy to maintain a normal and consistent body temperature, moreso on very hot days. All this energy use can cause us to feel tired and sluggish.

Sweating more or feeling hotter than usual can be due to medication, hormonal changes, stress, or an underlying health condition, such as diabetes or an overactive thyroid.