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Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment
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Muncie 70.3 is 2 months away, and there's a chance it'll be pretty warm. Since it never gets truly hot up here, I've come up with a plan.

Indoors, on "non-key" rides, do them without fans. Same if I'm on the treadmill. Key workouts / intervals I think it's more important to hit the desired pace / power, so fans are good for those.

Outdoors, ride and run with extra layers.

Don't think there's much I can do with radiant heat loads, but that approach should (I hope) get me somewhat prepared for a warm day.

Am I totally off base? or is that a good approach?

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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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That's what I did for IMTX and I handled the heat well (I live in NY and trained for it in near feezing temps all winter)

I think more important than that though is to log your sweat rate during those hot sessions, and practice fluid and sodium intake to the maximum that your body can handle. You won't be able to replace everything you lose but the closer you come the better.

Strava
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [sch340] [ In reply to ]
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Muncie is HOT.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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You can also use a sauna protocol ifirr.
There are some really complicated ones out there but I think the simple ones (a few minutes several times a week building up to half an hour, continuing through to 3-5 days before the race) work effectively.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [tuckandgo] [ In reply to ]
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+1
stacy sims, once the chief scientist at osmo nutrition, worked on a sauna protocol for heat and altitude adaptation.
could not find her proper protocol online but you find a summary below and its described here: https://bikerumor.com/...aling-with-the-heat/
seems pretty simple to me if you have access to a sauna after your workouts for 7 days in a row.

here a summary of the basics:
Within 30 minutes of finishing training, you want to be in the sauna. In these 30 minutes, you won’t rehydrate, (your protein recovery drink is okay, but no other fluid). The strong stimulus of some dehydration is key to the adaptations of this protocol. The MOA: with dehydration, there is reduced blood flow (due to less blood volume). When you head into the sauna, the hot environments signals blood to come to the skin for thermoregulation. With this, there is decreased blood flow to other organs, in particular the kidneys. With reduced blood flow, there is reduced oxygen- registered as a drop in the partial pressure of oxygen at the level of the kidney stimulates EPO and plasma volume production. The other aspect is the strong heat stress “resets” your thermoregulation thresholds- eg you will start sweating sooner, and your sweat will be more dilute (thus racing, 100’F will *feel* like 65’F).
Do this seven (7) days in a row. The first day you may only tolerate 5-10 minutes, by the 7the day, 25-30 minutes is attainable. SLOWLY REHYDRATE OVER THE COURSE OF 3-4 HOURS; otherwise, you “kill” the stress response to increase blood volume and reset thermoregulation set-points. The best way to monitor hydration is to use pee sticks. You may find your USg post sauna is>1.035. Slowly rehydrate to reach 1.010-1.015 (this should be your morning urine status!).

the upshot:
This protocol works for both heat and altitude. The connection between the two environments is the blood volume expansion- increased red cell for oxygen uptake and delivery plus increased plasma volume for circulation and sweating.

disclaimer:
Sauna bathing is similar to hard exercise in terms of the responses of your cardiovascular system and hormones involved with controlling your blood and body fluid volumes. Therefore, sauna bathing should be maintained only for as long or as hot as you feel comfortable. Above all, it should not be undertaken in a competitive manner!
do not drink (alcohol) and sauna, etc, etc.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Definitely try and figure out your salt sweat rate - that will change dramatically in hot weather. Being in South Florida - I hardly sweat any salt - but my buddy visited from up north and UNLOADED salt. Do not know if this differs person to person in regards to genetics or rather a change in environment. No clue - but something to look at.

Wear a long sleeve shirt, bike with no fan, and turn the heat on in the house. Humidity might be your biggest concern (dont know how muncie is) but a good day in Florida with a 90% humidity and 80 degree heat - sweat simply does not evaporate so its extremely difficult to cool down.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [SankaCoffee] [ In reply to ]
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I used to live in a pretty warm & humid environment, but that was 13 years ago that I left. I'm a salty sweat guy, always have been. Races in hot weather usually turned my black helmet straps into white ones.

I'm not really worried about electrolytes, I think I've got a good handle on that.

I will not have access to a sauna. We will be in Indianapolis for a week prior to Muncie, and will be driving down via Boston area for a week before that, (drive a few hours, camp a day or 2, then repeat a few times. So that will give about 10 days of heat acclimation, weather dependent of course.

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Last edited by: JasoninHalifax: May 16, 18 6:02
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I also throw in a space heater in the pain cave to really get it going.

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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Came from fall Los Angeles to Cozumel in 2016, so did some of that. You say no sauna but I think that was the most helpful TBH, Was harder than I thought it would be so started about 3 or 4 weeks out (can't recall exactly but there is a time frame where it is most beneficial). Started with 2X short sessions and slowly increased from there

I did a few easier trainer workouts with no fan and long sleeve shirt That was fucking miserable and left my shoes wet for days. Can't imagine adding a heater to that. I'd emphasize no hard sessions like that.
Last edited by: ChrisM: May 16, 18 11:50
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:
Came from fall Los Angeles to Cozumel in 2016, so did some of that. You say no sauna but I think that was the most helpful TBH, Was harder than I thought it would be so started about 3 or 4 weeks out (can't recall exactly but there is a time frame where it is most beneficial). Started with 2X short sessions and slowly increased from there

I did a few easier trainer workouts with no fan and long sleeve shirt That was fucking miserable and left my shoes wet for days. Can't imagine adding a heater to that. I'd emphasize no hard sessions like that.

that is like south florida - just everyday - and sometimes in the winter - except we don't need longsleeve shirts or heaters to allow us to keep our shoes wet for days. Who the hell settled this place anyway, goodness.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Muncie 70.3 is 2 months away, and there's a chance it'll be pretty warm. Since it never gets truly hot up here, I've come up with a plan.

Indoors, on "non-key" rides, do them without fans. Same if I'm on the treadmill. Key workouts / intervals I think it's more important to hit the desired pace / power, so fans are good for those.

Outdoors, ride and run with extra layers.

Don't think there's much I can do with radiant heat loads, but that approach should (I hope) get me somewhat prepared for a warm day.

Am I totally off base? or is that a good approach?

People do all kinds of things to muck around getting heat acclimatized, BUT the number 1 thing anyone can do is lose a layer of built in wetsuit, no matter how thin it is. The leaner you can get will help you MORE than any heat acclimatization protocol. Once you get to the leaness, everything you are talking about has some impact, but yes, do key workouts with fans, or you will impair the quality of training. Sauna time can also help. I also would apply "frequent sauna" by blasting my car heat full blast on every trip (when no one was in my car) through the summer. I took this cue from guys who would show up at Kona and refuse to use air conditioning locally before the race. I tried it in Kona and it really worked and just to "check", each time I returned from there or St. Croix or Texas to Canada, I would do some short trainer rides to see my tolerance to deal with a given wattage before and after with no fan and I was always better after the trip, where my sweat rate would drop and probably my blood plasma would have gone up....tha
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I thought I heard on the GCN show once that one of the guys took the duct off of his clothes dryer and would soak clean towels in water and toss them in.

Then placed the tube into the room with his trainer. Upped the humidity and heat.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I have it "lucky." One of the pools I swim at is set at 90 degrees F. Always. It also has a spin bike room that has terrible ventilation just upstairs. Boom. Instant heat training.
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I have used garage training for heat acclimation for my last 2 or 3 hot races and it has worked really well. I live up on a ski hill so it only gets hot around June-August. For the 2 weeks leading up to the race I aim for 5-6 sessions of 1-1.5 hours on the trainer with the baseboard heater cranked, no fan and wearing a gabba and rain jacket. I only pedal easy, z1-low z2 and either do it on my recovery days or to finish off a longer, harder session. I usually hop in the hot tub cranked right up or hot bath afterwards for 30 minutes with limited fluids like the OSMO protocol.

Works really well for me, heat and humidity is rarely an issue even when there is snow on the ground at home.

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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I used a space heater next to my indoor trainer and treadmill once... it was terrible. Just like a long session in the heat and humidity with no air flow.

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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [trihawg] [ In reply to ]
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I wanted to try sauna protocol but don't have access. Then I realized that I have a car and live in the Midwest so on a sunny day I do have a sauna. Now my GF just laughs as I ride my bike in the basement and then go sit in a hot car.

Also doing Muncie. Should be fun!
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Re: Acclimatizing to heat in a cool environment [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know that I know enough to know, but here's what I think.

The two ideas you've come up with will make you sweat more. That's a start, but you'll still be breathing relatively cool air.

Do you have a room that you could heat up and hit the trainer or treadmill there with a fan? My surmise is that this will more accurately simulate outdoor activity in the heat.

Also, do I recall you looking for a 140mm stem? The new ENVE Aero comes in 140, can be adjusted +/- 2.5mm for length and can be set to -7, -12, or -17 degrees. It's $300US, though...
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