Scientists say feeling cooler can be a bit of a Catch-22. It helps you go faster, which is a great strategy when you're a pro. But for the everyday athlete who's not a contender for the purse, more speed makes you hotter and makes you more likely to succumb to heat injury or illness.
More: Cracking the Code on Sweat Rates
But if you know the signs of heat illness and heed them, there's a good reason to use some feel-cooler strategies: You'll enjoy your summer workouts more.
Here are a few tips to stay cool during your triathlon training this summer.
1. Slow Down
Triathletes shooting for a personal record might find this advice difficult to follow. But slowing down on warmer days can keep you from fatiguing, or suffering a heat-related illness.
2. Drinking Beats Dousing
"It's better to put fluids in you rather than on you," Roberts says. In other words, sipping helps you out more than pouring water over your head.
Freeze your bottles the night before a workout to help the fluid feel even more refreshing, English says.
More: Proper Hydration for Summer Training
3. Loose is Better Than Tight
That over-sized performance tee from your last race might be a better choice than the skintight tank.
"Your skin should be open to the air so you can release heat into the air. If it's not open to the air, you can't evaporate sweat," Armstrong says.
4. Learn to Recognize Trouble
Heat illness and injury hits both trained and untrained athletes. When you're out there, you need to be on alert for signs the heat has put your body (or someone else's) in danger. Warning signs include:
- Heat Cramps: Muscle spasms that are stronger and longer than usual cramps. These can be a precursor to more severe heat illness.
- Heat Exhaustion: Heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, fainting, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting. Pulse rate may be fast and weak and breathing will be fast and shallow. If left untreated, it can progress to heat stroke.
- Heat Stroke: Extremely high body temperature, rapid, strong pulse, throbbing headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, unconsciousness. Heat stroke is life threatening. Lack of sweating indicates trouble (although in a race situation, it may be hard to tell if someone is no longer sweating). It means the body's natural cooling system has broken down, and you need to get medical attention immediately.
More: What You Should Know About Heat Illness and Exercise
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