If you’re here in Houston, 🥵 🥵 🥵 season has just hit us like a ton of bricks. A ton of bricks that is on fire and covered in molten lava. It’s hot, y’all. Here are my tips for getting outside anyway, sunscreen and light-colored clothing advice not included:
- Hydrate before your activity
Like, an hour or two before. Stay hydrated. You’ll feel better than if you wait until your activity has started – and you will be less likely to deal with muscle cramps or injuries by having muscles that are ready to work. - Listen to your body – and check your heart rate
If you have a fitness watch, keep an eye on your heart rate. You might feel like you’re working extra hard from the heat but find that your heart rate is still nice and low…or you might feel fine and find out that your heart rate disagrees and you need to tone down the exertion. If you don’t have a monitor, be your own monitor and pay attention to how you’re feeling. - Consider two shorter workouts instead of one long workout.
Split your workout into morning and evening parts if you need to get it all done without being outside during the hottest part of the day. Or, change some of your steady state days to interval days to make your workout shorter and more efficient. - Consider electrolytes.
Gatorade, salted water with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of another juice, NUUN tablets, or other electrolyte supplements could be in order if you feel really, really tired after your workouts or find that your focus and sleep just aren’t what they were before the weather heated up. (Always ask your personal health professional if you’re not sure, and remember that more isn’t always more!) - Don’t take the summer off!
We have a few more hot months, and you don’t want to put your results on hold until the winter. And, if indoor workouts are an option for you, find one with good AC!
These workouts are almost all outdoors, so now I’ll know you’re prepared…
- Sunday 9am Zumba (free, meets at Levy Park – 3801 Eastside)
- Monday 6:30pm Zumba (free, meets at Levy Park – 3801 Eastside)
- Wednesday 7pm Zumba at Jerabeck Athletic Center (free / $5 suggested donation)
- Saturday 9am Bootcamp (meets in the studio parking lot – sign in online and bring your mat)
- Saturday 6/24 9:30am Zumba at Montrose Collective – it’s time again! (free, 888 Westheimer, street/garage parking, stay for brunch if you want!) – we are moving upstairs to where it is covered!
PS – I prepare to teach summer outdoor fitness classes with all the tips above, plus I lower the intensity about 10% as it heats up: instead of doing one or two big “hills” in my classes, I make 3-4 shallower hills, and I begin recovery/cooldown a few minutes earlier to ensure that everyone is back in the right heart rate zone before class is over. No one notices the decrease in intensity because the heat fills in where I backed off!