Our research shows that it takes roughly 10-14days to acclimate to the blazing heat and humidity this time of year. Instead of simply throwing your body through the ringer, read up on Coach Amari's easy strategy to safely and effectively adjust as well as continue to nail those new limits, regardless of the temps!
SHORT ON TIME: GO AHEAD AND JUMP DOWN TO THE ACCLIMATING STRATEGIES FOR THE NITTY-GRITTY IF YOU WISH.
The goal: slowly introduce your body to the added stress and fatigue of the increased temperatures and humidity. An outside factor to consider, how much recovery does your schedule allow? Meaning if your lifestyle only allows a 5min cool down after each workout, you might consider the more conservative adaption route than the athlete who can include a solid 15-20min foam rolling/ stretching routine or compression boots/ massage throughout each week. Again, the recovery tools simply help flush that excessive fatigue both mentally and physically- if we are not recovered between sessions, we risk injury due to the a. a rapid breakdown that the heat causes b.reduced mental and physical focus c. poor response, form, and mechanics.
So, let's get down to the meat of how to acclimate over the course of 4-6weeks.
1. Notice at most, we will only build to roughly 80% of your training time to be spent outside. Why? Have you ever heard the 'golden rule' of it is better to be 20% under-trained rather than 2% over-trained??? Let's keep this same philosophy with the environmental demands. (example: if you have 10hr of bike and running for the week, consider at most, at complete acclimation, doing ~8hr outside & 2hr inside).
2. In the beginning of this transition to outdoor training, keep the of your majority intensity sessions (Race Pace efforts or Harder/ Zone 4+) inside.
Rather, focus on your easier aerobic sessions (<Training Pace-Training Pace/ Zone 1-3) to build your 'base' during heat acclimation.
3. You will also notice, you will never fully be completing your week's total training time (neither aerobically or anaerobically) outside.
4. Ideally you would have at least 24hrs between each outdoor workout. NOTE- I said 'ideally'- this is not always doable, but it is preferred.
5. Bonus ways to acclimate: do outdoor chores in the afternoon/evening, walk the dog... casually tackling life outside under low-moderate stress helps the body to quickly adapt to the conditions.
STRATEGY ONE
***FOR THE ATHLETE WHO: recovers rapidly b/w sessions, has good consistent sleep quality, focuses on available modes of recovery, regularly maintains a nutrient-dense diet and optimal hydration levels...
WEEK ONE
OUTSIDE- up to 30% total time- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 70%
WEEK TWO
OUTSIDE- up to 50% total time- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 50%
WEEK THREE
OUTSIDE- up to 65% total time- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 35%
WEEK FOUR
OUTSIDE- up to 80% total time- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 20%
STRATEGY TWO
***FOR THE ATHLETE WHO: less time to recover b/w sessions, low sleep quality, cannot or will not get: massage/rolling/stretching, maintains less than optimal daily nutrition/hydration, also consider age here- I like athletes above the age of 50 to more conservative in this build up...
Also there is reduced total time outdoor to encourage less breakdown and increased recovery...
WEEK ONE
OUTSIDE- up to 20% total time,- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 80%
WEEK TWO
OUTSIDE- up to 30%- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 70%
WEEK THREE
OUTSIDE- up to 40%- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 60%
WEEK FOUR
OUTSIDE- up to 50%- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 50%
WEEK FIVE
OUTSIDE- up to 60%- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 40%
WEEK SIX
OUTSIDE- up to 70%- this includes both TP/zone 2-3 & RP/ zone 4+
INSIDE- remaining 30%
Happy Training!
~Coach Amari