When summer arrives and temperatures rise vertiginously, the workout becomes a sweat bath. The prospect of the burning sun on the head and back is not so inviting and often make you leave the bike for some time.
High temperatures (above 30 ° C) affect the cardiovascular system: it tends to sweat more, the heart rate increases and the blood vessels dilate.
Here are some tips to continue the bike training in the summer.
1) Accustom your body
It is essential to make the body accustomed to summer temperatures gradually. For example, you can avoid getting out of training on hot days and then increasing intensity at small doses. It starts with a short ride that will have to be gradually stretched.
2) Pay attention to the heart
In summer the heart rate increases naturally so it is preferable to slow down the pedal pace to prevent the beat reaching critical levels. The ideal thing is to train with a cardio-frequency meter that allows you to control the beats.
3) Avoid hottest hours
Cyclists who are used to training for lunch breaks or early afternoon will have to choose a cooler and healthier time of the day. In the summer it is better to train in the morning or in the evening.
4) Reassemble the path
If the usual training path does not include shaded or cooler traits, it is best to look for another solution that may include a tree-lined avenue, a park, a bicycle path in the woods, a pine forest.
5) Appropriate clothing
The cyclist’s technical outfit in the summer must be highly breathable, possibly of light color to reflect the light and not retain the heat.
Below the helmet you can wear a lightweight cap to protect yourself from heat shots. Finally, it’s good to never forget sunglasses with UV filters.
6) Proper protection
Body parts exposed to the sun (arms, legs, neck) must be protected with a fashion water resistant sunscreen that is not washed away by sweat.
7) Drink often
With sweat, the body also expels important minerals and liquids that need to be reintegrated during training otherwise the whole body suffers. It is also important to start pedaling only if well hydrated, or after drinking a lot of water, you or juices during the day.
8) Take minerals
Since the body in the summer sweat abundantly, the quality of minerals that you lose is much greater than the rest of the year. It is therefore essential to keep it busy during the day by ingesting foods that are as rich in minerals as bananas and dried apricots.
9) Do not overdo it
At the first manifestation of headaches, intense thirst, cramping, dizziness it is best to stop training, move to a shaded place and drink water. In the summer the recovery times of the body stretch, even in the case of highly trained cyclists it is good to indulge more days of rest between one session and the other.
10) Alternate bike activity
When the physicist needs to recover energy, it is possible to keep fit in other activities such as running or acquagym.