Stay fit all year round

• Temperature training
• Fresh Ways to Stress Less
• 9 Secrets to a...

Temperature training Athletes who choose the trail over the daily and, during exercise, feeding your treadmill don't get the benefit of a muscles extra carbs (about five to six ounces thermostat. For much of the year in much of of  sports  drink  every  15  minutes). the United States, they are forced to contend with bitter cold and sweltering heat. But Brisk only recently have sports scientists zeroed in on exactly how those extreme temperatures 45°F  to  50°F  (7°C  to  10°C) influence  performance. This is the sweet spot for sustained "The biggest breakthroughs have come in the exercise. Before long workouts, heat up your past five years," says Jim Cotter, Ph.D., a muscles by jogging or cycling slowly for ten senior lecturer at the School of Physical minutes and fire up your nervous system with Education at the University of Otago, in New a couple of 30-second bursts at Zealand. "We've learned that the optimal close-to-maximal effort. During your warm-up warm-up for cold-weather exertion is quite and the first few miles of exercise, prevent different from the one you would carry out in shivering€”which can expend the heat and, perhaps more important, that oxygen and promote fatigue€”by the skin and brain play larger than expected wearing layers that can be removed readily as roles in determining how athletes respond to you  continue  your  workout. temperature  changes." Balmy The brain, scientists have discovered, can actually anticipate changes in body 50°F  to  70°F  (10°C  to  21°C) temperature and will adjust exercise intensity accordingly. This subconscious It's easier to get loose when it is 65 calculation takes into account both the degrees (18 degrees Celsius) than when it's outside temperature and the duration of the 35 (2 degrees Celsius). And since muscle effort, and explains why slowdowns are almost contraction velocity increases as sinews warm automatic in the heat, even before signs of up, you can get into a groove right from the significant muscle fatigue set in. If an start of your workout. However, when athlete attempts to exercise beyond the exercising for 75 minutes or more, brain's wishes, the cerebrum will respond by overheating is an issue. One study found that generating brutal sensations of exhaustion marathon times lengthen by 19 seconds for (i.e., heat strain). The sad fact: Ambient each degree above 55°F (13°C). temperatures can trump your hard-earned Acclimatize by training in these temps for a fitness. Fortunately, though, researchers week,  and  limit  warm-ups  to five minutes. have developed strategies to help athletes stabilize their core temps in both hot and Blazin' frigid conditions. Here, scientifically backed tips to help you perform optimally in Above  70°F  (21°C) four  temperature  zones. In warm temperatures it's very difficult to HOW  TO  CONQUER  ANY  CLIMATE shed excess body heat. Studies show that taking an ice-cold bath or relaxing in an Blustery air-conditioned room prior to exercise can up endurance by 37 percent for cyclists and 17 Below  45°F  (7°C) percent  for  runners. The human body has limited physiological Training is important, too: When you work out defenses for the cold. To maintain an optimal for a week in the heat, you improve blood core temp, layer clothing properly. Also, be flow to the skin, lower the skin-temperature sure that your muscles are well stocked with threshold for sweating, and sweat more glycogen (fat metabolism is impaired at low evenly, all of which allows you to exercise temperatures) by consuming up to four grams at a higher intensity for longer. of carbohydrates per pound of body weight 1 A B C D E F 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 108 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123