Exercising in the heat

7 Healthcast: Exercising in the heat

Posted: 07/11/10

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“I pretty much train all year so heat doesn't really stop. You just gotta make sure you're hydrated and keep hydrated while you're running," said John Huffman, who works out in heat.

John Huffman is not letting the spike in temperature alter his normal run. Despite soaring temperatures, John and others are continuing to exercise outside.

“Exercising in this horrible heat is only bad if you're not used to it. If you're a trained athlete, and you're used to being in the heat you'll probably be ok, but for the average person it is best not to be in this type of heat," said Carlos Bradley, a fitness expert.

Bradley, fitness expert and former Philadelphia Eagle, said with the proper precautions, the heat should not deter your regular routine. Most important: keep well hydrated.

“Don't begin hydrating that day. You want to begin hydrating twenty four to thirty six hours before," said Bradley.

And now is not the time to start an outside regimen.

“You don't want to start your exercise program in this extreme heat. Start indoors right now if you want to start," said Bradley.

And if you really want to sweat it out outside, it's best to do it earlier in the morning when the temperatures down or later like after work when the temperature is a little cooler," said Bradley.

If you're otherwise in pretty good shape and you keep yourself nicely hydrated you should be fine. Those that need to be more cautious though are the elderly and children.

“Children don't sweat as well as adults they have more body surface area so they are more likely to have that heat effect them so you don't want to go out and spend 24 hours out in the heat,” said Doctor Christopher Haines, Chief of Emergency Medicine.

Doctors said children are at an increased risk of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and life threatening heat stroke, but Haines said that should not prevent you from letting your kids outside.

“If it's super duper hot and the way it is now, you probably want to give them breaks when they are outside every 20 minutes at minimum," said Haines.

Doctors also recommend older people take greater care when exercising outside during the intense heat of the summer. The best advice: take a lot of breaks to cool off.

(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Christa Delcamp

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cyber@whdh.com

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