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Lead Stories: Thursday, January 8, 2009

Know the warning signs of heatstroke

Posted May 24th, 2007 at 11:19 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

Heatstroke is a sudden uncontrolled rise in body temperature that affects the brain so that it can’t function properly. It should never happen to you because you get plenty of warning.

First your muscles are affected, then your circulation and then your brain. As your temperature starts to rise, your muscles feel like a hot poker is pressing against them. As it rises further, the air that you breathe feels like it’s coming from a furnace and no matter how rapidly and deeply you try to breathe, you won’t be able to get enough air.

When this happens, stop exercising and cool off by moving into the shade or pouring water over your head. If you continue to exercise, your body temperature will rise further and affect your brain. Your head will start to hurt, you’ll hear a ringing in your ears, you may feel dizzy, you may have difficulty seeing and then you will end up unconscious on the ground.
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Impact of extreme weather conditions on marathon running performances

Posted May 23rd, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Megan Hueter

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Training Tips

In general, marathon races are among the most physiologically demanding endurance events in the world with runners competing for a distance of 42 kilometers (26.2 miles). (3,6) Competitive marathon runners often maintain a pace equaling 70-90% of their VO2max (max output) for over two hours. (6) Both biological and environmental factors affect the thermoregulatory balance in marathon runners.

Marathon races are considered mass participation events, and heat injuries occur in less extreme conditions. When running in closer proximity to other runners, it has been reported that the physiological heat stress is three times more straining on the body compared to someone running solo in identical weather conditions. (6) As mentioned earlier biological and environmental factors play a role in maintaining thermoregulatory balance in marathon runners. Biological factors such as dehydration, metabolic rate and gender limit thermoregulatory control. (3)
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Q & A Will a cold drink improve my performance during hot-weather competition?

Posted March 19th, 2007 at 12:29 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: Nutrition, Hydration

It may. During hard exercise, particularly in hot weather, you sweat and lose a lot of water and salt. Your performance does not suffer until you lose a very large amount of fluid, about five percent of your body weight or more.

However, when you lose so much fluid that your performance suffers, you cannot catch up during that competition. That’s why you need to take in fluids during events that last more than 90 minutes. If your event lasts more than 2.5 hours, you also need to take in calories and salt.

According to a study from The University of Birmingham in England, cold drinks taste better so you will drink more (Experimental Physiology, September 2006). The researchers concluded that cold drinks also improve endurance during hot weather by acting as a heat sink, decreasing the rise in body temperature and therefore reducing the effects of heat stress.
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Will exercising at night keep me from sleeping?

Posted January 3rd, 2007 at 7:00 AM by Martha Jones

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

Many fitness instructors give bad advice when they tell you not to exercise within three hours before going to sleep. Several studies show that exercising vigorously before going to bed does not interfere with sleep.

One study from the University of California at San Diego showed that three hours of vigorous pedaling at 70 percent of maximum oxygen uptake in very bright lights did not stop fit men from falling or staying asleep.
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