Archives for June 2021

In Ann Laurie’s post on the heat earlier this morning, she included something on rhabdomyolysis, specifically this link to The Washington Post‘s reporting on it. Specifically that people are more at risk for it now, after a year of COVID related self confinement that may have limited their physical activity combined with the exceedingly high heat in parts of the US, as well as other countries, that don’t normally see temperatures get that high.

WaterGirl’s post was about thinking about and sharing ways to stay cool for people that don’t normally live in high heat and/or high heat/high humidity places, I wanted to add a point or two on the front page.

Think of it as Silvermansplaining!!!!

Just a quick caveat, I’m not a personal trainer and I’m certainly not YOUR personal trainer, but I have been a martial arts instructor of a very cardio intensive martial art and I was teaching it in places with high heat and humidity in the summer. And while several friends who are personal trainers have encouraged me to at least get certified as a TRX trainer, I have just never gotten around to it largely because I have no interest in training people, let alone running group fitness classes. It doesn’t help that I was considering doing the certification course that would have been held nearest to me on TRX’s certification schedule in 2020…

All of the above said, pre-pandemic, I was in the gym at least four days a week for between 90 minutes and two hours at a time, doing intensive strength and cardio training. During the pandemic, I maintained my regimen using my TRX, as well as using long walks with the dogs to maintain some level of cardio intensity as I did not initially have a weight set up at home. Nor an Arc Trainer, which is my preferred cardio fitness machine. This changed several months ago in the late winter/early spring when I got a used ArcTrainer from a fitness equipment supply company that has the account for the local Planet Fitness franchise. At just about the same time I got a set of the adjustable dumbbells so I could reintroduce free weights back in to my regimen. Basically I was feeling as if I’d hit a huge wall in my exercise regimen so that even as I was maintaining a somewhat acceptable fitness level, I was treading water given the resources at hand due to the pandemic.

And here’s where we get to the details. As I’ve indicated, I basically live in a cyprus swamp/wetland that was partially reclaimed with offsets decades ago when such things were still allowed. The average high heat index here over the past month, unless it has been monsooning all day, has been in the 101 to 104 range. And I’ve learned a few things I want to share that might be helpful in dealing with the heat if you’re exercising. The first is that I’ve shifted my workout times. If I’m up and have space in the schedule, I try to get my workout in as early as I can and certainly no later than 11 AM. In the Fall, Winter, and Spring, before the heat and humidity get high again, I’d often break up the day with a 1 or 2 PM workout. Now, I try to avoid that at all costs. Especially if I’m using the TRX as the mount is over the garage door facing out, so I’m working out in the driveway in direct sunlight. And the driveway faces west, so it’s getting full summer sun for a lot of the day! So I’m either working out earlier in the day or later in the day. My weights are on my screened in back patio. So no direct sunlight, but the full effects of the heat and humidity despite the fans. The Arc Trainer lives inside where it is air conditioned.

The second thing I’ve learned is to break up the workouts. When I used the gym, the reason my workouts would take 90 to 120 minutes is I started with the weights or TRX strength training and then finished with 40 minutes to an hour of high intensity cardio on the ArcTrainer every lift day except for leg day. That’s not happening right now. As I’ve written about here before, I used a lower weight, higher rep strength training system. Basically I want to lift a decent amount of weight as many times as possible before I feel like the next rep isn’t going to be possible – as in I’d have to drop the weight. So I’m trying to work each set of reps to failure. This usually means a 12 to 16 or 18 rep set, four sets per exercise, at least three sets per muscle group being worked, per workout. Regardless of TRX or free weights. I take water between every set of reps. Each 30 second to 1 minute rest between sets of reps means hydration! While this type of lifting produces some cardio effects, the real point here is that in high heat and humidity, by the time I’m done, I’m completely done. Doesn’t matter if I’m working out in the morning or the evening, So instead of weights/TRX strength training immediately followed by cardio, I do four days of weight strength training and three days of cardio training per week. I’m not piggy backing them because it’s neither safe, nor healthy.

There are a lot of reasons to be careful when exercising in high heat and high humidity, or just doing anything strenuous in high heat and humidity, and extreme cold can be just as dangerous – I’ve shoveled my fair share of snow over the years – but trust me, you DO NOT want to over stress your system to the point of getting rhabdo! Here’s a professional bodybuilder, strength, and fitness competitor explaining just what she went through when she got rhabdo last year:

And, of course, remember to hydrate! I’m not kidding. I will go through at least one 64 ounce water bottle per workout. And that doesn’t count all the other water I’m drinking per day!

I’ll be back later with a never before told true story of Bixby sure to entertain and scandalize the Balloon Juice community, as well as give Cole dyspepsia or something…

Open thread!

 

Just a Quick Weather Related Note To Reinforce AL’s & WaterGirl’s From EarlierPost + Comments (64)