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Keeping Cool
While Burning Calories
The key to safe exercise in the heat of summer is in drinking fluids.
RUTHAN BRODSKY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ith
the ther-
N mometer edging
hr into the mid-80s
and the calendar g
reading the end of
July, it isn't that
much of a leap to
figure that this is
the season of de-
\
for
hydration
those who defy the lazy days of
summer.
And it is not just the over-
weight and under-exercised who
need to take heed; the fit and
trim are just as susceptible to the
symptoms that follow excessive
bodily water loss, including fa-
tigue, poor performance, and in
extreme cases, heat exhaustion
and serious medical problems or
even death.
According to the recent posi-
tion on exercise and fluid
replacement of the American
College of Sports Medicine, ad-
equate fluid replacement helps
maintain hydration, and there-
fore, promotes the health,
safety and optimal physical per-
formance of individuals partici-
pating in regular physical
activity.
WHY SWEAT?
Even though the body is an
amazing machine, it's not that ef-
ficient because it creates a lot of
extra heat in its daily operations.
Fortunately, the body also has
a highly sophisticated heat reg-
ulation mechanism that helps
keep its temperature at 98.6 de-
grees.
During vigorous exercise, the
body creates additional heat and
releases it by opening capillaries
to increase blood flow to the skin.
On cool to warm days, much of
the heat is lost through evapora-
tion into the air. And when air
temperature reaches skin tem-
perature (approximately 93 de-
grees), sweat evaporation is even
more effective. But adding high
humidity into the mix can turn
the tables on evaporation, leav-
ing the sweat on the skin and
making it harder for the body
temperature to lower.
01101W
S
Clark, director of nutrition ser-
vices at Sportsmedicine Brook-
line in Boston. Clear-colored
urine and numerous trips to the
bathroom signify adequate hy-
dration; dark-colored urine is con-
centrated with metabolic wastes
and indicates dehydration.
Ms. Clark explained that ad-
equate fluid replacement is nec-
essary because fluid in the blood
transports oxygen to working
muscles and carries away lactic
acid. The popular rule of thumb
of drinking eight glasses of wa-
ter a day works for someone who
consumes about 2,000 calories a
day, which means drinking four
8-ounce glasses of water are re-
quired for every 1,000 calories
burned.
"Sometimes in an aer-
obics class there will be
someone who doesn't
want to stop to drink any
water because he or she
wants to keep on moving
and burn those calories,"
says Marcia Ditmeyer,
fitness director at
Franklin Racquet Club.
"I encourage people to
drink 8 to 10 ounces of
water before they do aer-
obics, and then 3 ounces
every 10 to 15 minutes.
People who don't will
find themselves cramp-
ing or exhausted and
have to stop and rest."
REPLACE THOSE
FLUIDS
Helayne Marchand takes a break to rehydrate during a workout at Franklin Raquet Club.
As much as two quarts of
sweat per hour can be lost when
exercising on a hot day. If the lost
water isn't replaced, the result-
ing dehydration reduces the
ability to produce sweat, which
then results in an even higher
body temperature.
"When I'm playing or teaching
tennis, I make sure that I drink
water before I enter the court,"
said Randy Blau, who has been
teaching tennis at Franklin Rac-
quet Club and the Birmingham
Athletic Club while attending law
school. "My rule of thumb is to al-
ways drink more than you think
you'll need. That worked while
I played tennis in college and it's
still working."
"And make sure your children
are taking in enough fluids when
they're playing hard, especially in
the hot weather," recommended
Helayne Marchand, assistant
manager at Kids Sports, Franklin the Gatorade Sports Science In-
Racquet Club. "I make it a point stitute. Although the notion ex-
to stop the activity every 20 min- ists that older individuals don't
utes or so that the children, ages tolerate heat stress as well as
when they were young, the re-
2 to 7, can drink their fill."
A rising temperature can pro- search doesn't agree. According
duce more symptoms than just to the Sports Science Exchange,
feeling hot; in fact, there are sev- aerobic fitness, climate acclima-
eral warning signs of overheat- tion and hydration state are far
ing including physical fatigue, more important in determining
mental fatigue, headache, con- someone's ability to exercise in
fusion, cramps, chills and loss of hot weather.
Dehydration occurs when the
strength. Experiencing any of
these conditions means stopping, balance of water in the body is
resting and taking in more flu- offset by excessive water loss. Al-
ids, according to Jude Timlin, a though the human body can
personal trainer at Powerhouse withstand a short-term water
deficit (about 70 percent of a lean
Gym in West Bloomfield.
"Under certain conditions, the person's body weight is water), it
body can build up too much heat, relies on the replacement of lost
raising the temperature and fluids to prevent serious conse-
causing loss of consciousness," quences.
The easiest way to tell if you've
Mr. Timlin said.
This is true for the young as had enough to drink is to moni-
well as the older athlete, reports tor the urine output, said Nancy
Avoiding dehydration
means maintaining fluid
levels. Prehydration —
consuming fluids before
exercise — is a particu-
larly good idea especially
during Michigan's sum-
mers, said Dave Stone, di-
rector of sports and
fitness at the West
Bloomfield Jewish Com-
munity Center. He even
suggests starting to drink
lots of fluids the day be-
fore planning to take on a strenu-
ous activity.
"Athletic performance is known
to decrease by as much as 15 per-
cent when a person starts losing
balance," Mr. Stone said. "While
coaching the Maccabi games, I've
seen kids drop out because of
cramps, and sometimes they just
pass out on the field. They may
have been drinking during the
games, but it wasn't enough. They
should have started drinking flu-
ids the day before."
About 15 to 20 minutes before
the event starts, drink 12 to 20
ounces of fluids, letting comfort
be your best guide, he said. Thirst
may be a good measure of body
fluid needs at rest, but being
thirsty isn't a very accurate mea-
surement when exercising. The
CALORIES page 72