Training In The Heat

Having lived in Phoenix, Arizona, for the past three years and recently being in the Middle East, I have had my fair share of training/living in the heat.

- Pedro Silva Gomes

And while we all are affected by the heat differently, there is some information I’ve gathered that could help you deal with the heat better and maybe even take the benefits of extended periods of exposure to it.

The benefits

There have been numerous different studies regarding training in the heat, one that got a lot of attention, showed a 5% jump in VO2max when measured in cool conditions and after 10-day exposure to heat (University of Oregon study on cyclists, 2010) that seemly proved there was some benefit to it but no real follow up was made as if that protocol was ever adopted.

In 2012, they put elite rowers through a 5 day protocol at 40 degrees Celsius and 60% humidity – something that you will likely get exposed more often in the Middle East than in Arizona where humidity is usually very low – and they got a 1,5% improvement on their 2K rowing performance (study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21915701). The improvement here seemed to be a result of their body reacting to heat stress by producing more plasma, something that they had also monitored on the Oregon, 2010, test. This same study seemed to point out as moderate dehydration to be a key factor to promote this amp up on plasma production. As a FYI, higher plasma volume leads to better cardiovascular fitness, just like higher blood cell count would if you undergo an altitude training protocol.