The most daring athletes and lovers of extreme risks prepare to perform feats that to the rest of humans seem worthy of a mythological titan. One of them is the so-called race of the three deserts. It consists of completing three mega-marathons of 250 km each in the deserts of the Sahara, the Gobi and the Atacama in the same year. The corridors withstand temperatures that sometimes reach 50ºC and can lose up to a liter of liquid every half hour. Only fifty people have managed to complete this challenge, including four Spaniards.

In these pages we are not going to recommend that you face a feat of such magnitude. But we do intend to explain that, despite the heat, summer is as good a time as any for sports. The reasons are many. One of them is that in the summer period you get fatter than the rest of the year.

The body produces more EPO

A study by Marta Garaulet Aza, professor of Physiology at the University of Murcia and member of SEEN (Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition), shows that Spaniards gain an average of three kilos  during the summer period. Among the various causes of this weight gain, the following stand out: "The laziness of doing sports with so much heat", explains the author of the study.dan bilzerian height

This should be reason enough to get up from the chair and exercise. If the necessary precautions are taken, the risks typical of this time of year (fainting, heat stroke ...) can be avoided. But it is that, in addition, doing sports on these dates when the thermometer rubs, and sometimes exceeds, 40ºC has advantages that do not occur the rest of the year.

Each athlete has their own manual with the rules that best suit their particular physical makeup. Thus, for example, those who practice bodybuilding take advantage of the summer months to do aerobic exercise that helps them lose fluid and show off greater muscle definition. Aware that, in principle, heat decreases body performance, bodybuilders usually consume a substance called creatine that, in addition to having properties like fat burners, reduces body temperature by three or four degrees, which also reduces fatigue .

It is true that, in principle, the high temperatures reduce the athlete's performance, since in order to make a determined effort the organism needs to transport more oxygen than at any other time of the year. But even this, which is initially an inconvenience, can end up becoming an advantage.

Jenny Hadfield, a sports doctor and marathon runner, says the effects of training in heat are very similar to training at altitude. "Fatigue increases and performance decreases, because cells carry less oxygen," explains the expert. “But after several days, the organism is acclimatizing and developing its own mechanisms. Its response to the oxygen shortage caused by high temperatures is to increase the natural production of the hormone known as EPO (endogenous erythropoietin), thus increasing the amount of red blood cells and whose end result is that a greater amount of oxygen is transported to the muscles. "

In this way, thanks to heat training, resistance is improved and greater physical performance is achieved, which becomes more evident when the summer ends and you exercise again in less unfavorable weather conditions.

Muscles suffer less

A major reason why it is advisable to continue training in summer is that only two months (July and August) of inactivity are enough to lose the physical form achieved during the rest of the year. It is true that it is difficult to overcome laziness, but whoever does it has its reward. For example, did you know that exercising with heat reduces the risk of muscle injury? As Marta Garaulet explains: “In winter the muscles are more tense from the cold. So warm-up exercises are necessary to get them in tune and avoid injury. ” On the other hand, as the specialist explains, in summer the muscles are more relaxed, so (although it is not convenient to stop stretching before and after exercise), the risk of suffering an injury when running or playing tennis.

Another advantage is that on summer days runners and cyclists can take breaks in their sporting activity without fear of muscles getting cold. “In winter, if we stop for more than five minutes, it is advisable to rewarm before continuing the exercise. However, in summer that is not necessary, since the muscles do not cool. And this is a great advantage when doing sports outdoors. You can be running, stop to admire the landscape and jog again without having to stretch again, "says the expert.

Sweat is an inseparable element of sports practice in summer. Sweating increases 30% compared to the rest of the year, which requires adequate hydration, in addition to being annoying if it gets into the eyes. But even this has its advantages. Contrary to what many people believe, sweat does not lose weight. It is only liquid that the body expels to regulate the body temperature, cooling it on very hot days. Most of that fluid is recovered by drinking.

Goodbye to bloating.

But although sweating more does not lose weight, it is positive for people suffering from fluid retention. Although this is a problem whose definitive solution requires medical treatment, as stated by Steve N. Blair, director of the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina, in his study Physical inactivity: the biggest public health problem of the 21st century: "Sweating caused by physical exercise reduces fluid retention by approximately 35%."

According to Blair, exercising regularly in the summer helps reduce swelling in the ankles, legs, abdomen, and neck, which are the areas where most fluid accumulates. Despite this, Blair advises: “Never force the machine. Natural sweating is enough. It is not healthy to resort to the use of girdles or plastics to try to lose more sweat ”.

But running or pedaling in the summer sun has even more positive effects. According to a study carried out by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with runners and cyclists, athletes who trained in the summer period had higher levels of vitamin D on their skin, which is very important for bone mineralization and favors absorption in the intestine of calcium and phosphorus. 

Although most of the vitamins and minerals must be taken in food, in the case of vitamin D the metabolism has an "ace up its sleeve", since it is capable of manufacturing it on the skin itself thanks to the interaction between an enzyme Called 7-dehydrocholesterol and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

The same study also showed that athletes who trained in the summer had lower cholesterol levels than those who rested in the summer season. And again it was due to the sun, since ultraviolet light helps metabolize these lipids.

In short: less risk of injury, increased performance, decreased cholesterol levels. Exercising in the summer has its advantages. Also its risks, but these are easy to avoid with a little common sense. So there is no excuse for sitting on the couch. Put on your sneakers and sweat out your shirt. Your body will thank you.

When the sun strikes ...

Training with heat also has its risks. Those who suffer most are the elderly, children and those affected by cardiorespiratory diseases. Although you should not be alarmists either. With proper preparation and a little common sense, you can avoid the biggest risks of doing sports when the thermometer starts to rise. In this informative table prepared with data from the Deyre Medical Center, dedicated to sports medicine, we detail what they are and how to prevent them.

Cramps

Cause: Insufficient oxygenation of the muscles and loss of fluids and mineral salts.
Symptoms: Sharp pains in the muscles of the legs and in the abdomen.
Treatment: Restore the balance of salts with drinks or foods with sodium, and massage the muscles.
Prevention: Hydrate with water with mineral salts before and during exercise.
When the sun strikes ...

Fainting
Cause: Caused by the sudden stop of blood flow to the brain.
Symptoms: Dizziness and loss of balance.
Treatment: Lie on the floor, elevate the legs and pelvis so that the blood reaches the brain.
Prevention: Acclimatize to the heat with a five-minute gentle walk before training.
When the sun strikes ...

Exhaustion
Cause: Dehydration causes an electrolyte imbalance.
Symptoms: Body temperature between 38 and 40ºC, headache, fatigue, excessive sweating, nausea, wet skin.
Treatment: Rest and apply cold cloths on the head and neck, and rehydrate the body with drinks and food with salts in small amounts.
Prevention: Avoid very intense workouts if the body temperature is very high, and drink liquid before and during exercise.
When the sun strikes ...

Hyponatremia due to excess hydration
Cause: Excessive hydration during long-term exercises dilutes sodium levels in the blood.
Symptoms: Headache, disorientation, muscle jerks.
Treatment: It is an emergency that requires urgent medical treatment.
Prevention: Do not drink more than 1 liter of water per hour.
When the sun strikes ...

Heat Stroke
Cause: Extreme exertion and dehydration prevent the body from maintaining temperature and thermal control is lost.
Symptoms: Body temperature above 40ºC, headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse, disorientation.
Treatment: Urgent medical treatment is also required, with immersion in ice cold water and intravenous fluid replacement.
Prevention: Do not exceed the limits of the body itself when the first symptoms of dehydration are felt, stop and drink before reaching this point.