The warm weather isn’t quite here yet in the 215 - but I still want to get my body back into racing shape,
acclimated to warm conditions and back to race weight.
I have in the past used a space heater next to / under my bike. This proved to help get a PR at the time in NOLA last year.
This basically meant taking a space heater. Cranking it to max and pointing it at my body while following my VO2 / Interval bike training.
Today I tried something new. I grabbed a zip up throw away hoodie (pretty thick in hindsight) and went through my Vo2 max.
The result was the following.
A ton of sweat.
heart rate was much higher than usual.
and I could notice my breathing was much more forced.
(I dont know if this is a one off or what I should expect regularly because I this was the first hard workout since getting over a sinus infection. Actually several - this cold wet winter / spring has been brutal. I have been sick 4-5x since the start of the year)
(To compare here is a similar workout from earlier in the year while not wearing a hoodie)
I was debating getting the space heater in the mix too.
Though I want to know others opinions.
Is this a good idea? Am I putting myself through too much or not enough doing this?
Is the space heater too much?
Any risks?
Look forward to some responses.
And go easy on the low wattage comments
Not sure if doing your hard workouts while heat acclimating is a good idea. Usually you want to do the easy stuff. I would do your hard sessions first, then get into heat acclimation mode while doing the cool down.
Not disagreeing (or agreeing) with you.
Though I guess I want to know why?
I’d like to put out the same if not more power on race day without I’ll effects right? If I can get my body to be comfortable cooking in those conditions it would be ideal.
But if you have stats or information saying “this is s terrible idea because xyz.”
I would very much like to hear it.
The links from the first post seems to support this idea to an extent.
Though I may need to look into finding a sauna or a bikram yoga den that may rent out to our tri team.
I did the heat acclimation thing recently.
A guy at the local university told me to shoot for a core temperature of 102 for an hour (around 10 sessions).
I hit that number with:
a.) Room at 90 degrees (space heater) no shirt
b.) Wool long underwear top + no space heater
I will tell you that 102 degree core temperature really sucks. It made the easy effort miserable, and I would definitely not want to do any intensity like that. I didn’t even hold it for an hour like he said (it was taking at least 30 minutes to get up there in my 1:15 workouts).
The great thing about heat acclimation is it makes it more likely that your race will be unseasonably cool.
I did the heat acclimation thing recently.
A guy at the local university told me to shoot for a core temperature of 102 for an hour (around 10 sessions).
I hit that number with:
a.) Room at 90 degrees (space heater) no shirt
b.) Wool long underwear top + no space heater
I will tell you that 102 degree core temperature really sucks. It made the easy effort miserable, and I would definitely not want to do any intensity like that. I didn’t even hold it for an hour like he said (it was taking at least 30 minutes to get up there in my 1:15 workouts).
The great thing about heat acclimation is it makes it more likely that your race will be unseasonably cool.
This definitely echoes my feeling as well.
How could you “tell” you were at the core heat you wanted to be at?
Also I would be interested to see your HR data for these workouts
(doesnt have to be strava or garmin or whatever - but your usual HR vs W/SH or W/Hood)
I know that my body absolutely abhors the heat.
Frequent flyer of the medical tent. Still haven’t hit my happy place for hydration on the 70.3 distance.
140.6 may never be in my future.
Canadian who sweats worse than anyone I know…
Also - how big was your space heater tat you could get the temp up that high?
Or are you kind of guestimating the core temp?
Sorry - your post just truly intrigued me.
You can find a lot of studies on this but the idea is, doing your hard sessions while heat acclimating at the same time, will put a lot of stress on your system and you will end up sick or injured before your race. I will be surprised if you can even hit your numbers. If you did, then the room isn’t hot enough.
You will gain the same acclimation benefit by sitting in a sauna or just doing an easy 30-60 min run or spin on your bike with layers on and no fan without jeopardizing your key workouts. You will just need to expose yourself to as much heat as possible before your race. Just start 10-days before your taper start and do the easy sessions in a hot room with clothes on will be hard enough you will feel like you want to pass out the first few sessions. Sitting in a hot tub will give you the same benefits as a sauna too. I have a space heater+humidifier and usually put long sleeves on or bunch of layers and usually feel like I want to pass out 30 min later.
I have a space heater+humidifier and usually put long sleeves on or bunch of layers and usually feel like I want to pass out 30 min later.
Few things suck more than this feels.
So basically I am on the right path -
Just do this for when I have endurance rides / recovery rides that are ~1hr?
Yep… I would get into the sauna as well after swim or run sessions. Try to sit there for 20 min to start and get that up to 30min. Heat acclimation when done right is really hard.
I love heat training! The hotter the better. So much so, that 95% of my rides are in my backyard shed with 2-3 layers. Saturday’s ride temp outside was 85 degrees and inside the shed was 115 degrees. My motto (really my son’s motto) is ride until I feel like I 'm about to pass out, and ride another 15 minutes.
How do I cold acclimate in the summer? I’m doing a cold-weather race in Norway in August and will be coming from the sweltering, humid southeast USA. Should I bring a trainer and treadmill to the ice arena or walk-in beer fridge? Or is cold acclimation more mental than physical?
“We examined whether daily hot water immersion (HWI) after exercise in temperate conditions induces heat acclimation and improves endurance performance in temperate and hot conditions.”
General gist, have a warm/hot bath after a normal workout. This way your workout quality does not suffer and you get the heat acclimatization. Riding on the trainer with a heater and clothes on till fatigue is not a smart way to acclimatize.
Just riding without a fan and maybe a long sleeve shirt seemed to adequately simulate the lack of cooling in high humidity/ambient temps. For the run, overdressing seemd to work well.
The hot bath/shower however sounds interesting.
I felt that since it was taper, the lower quality wasn’t critical and it mentally prepared me for the sensation of feeling really hot. In the end, I’d probably never do a hot race Sept-June without getting there a week early. Then, doing most of my runs and rides in the afternoon. I laughed a little at folks that did all of their runs early in the morning in Kona… and the intensity they ran at. Funny, not everyone ran a sub 3 there, but you’d swear everyone could based on their training runs during the week.
Don’t give up quality of workouts. Do works and then post workout sauna protocol for 7 - 10 days stopping 7 days prior to the race. This acclimates kidney function, etc to have you prepared. However, this is VERY stressful on the body so keep close attention and be careful.
I am doing Texas this weekend and live in Virginia.
I did the space heater, no fan in my basement for a lot of my training.
One word of caution, I wound up with a kidney stone 3 weeks ago. No previous history or health issues and no change of diet.
I attribute it to chronic dehydration, I did re-hydrate after the sessions but obviously not enough.
I am doing Texas this weekend and live in Virginia.
I did the space heater, no fan in my basement for a lot of my training.
One word of caution, I wound up with a kidney stone 3 weeks ago. No previous history or health issues and no change of diet.
I attribute it to chronic dehydration, I did re-hydrate after the sessions but obviously not enough.
Drink your water!!
Never had one myself but seen what my father has gone through…
Hope your was … uneventful.
Good luck this weekend.
Post up your name / DM me - I love any reason to check out a fellow triathletes data.
As for the space heater and Dehydration etc.
Are you a heavy salty sweater?
I ask because I am salty as the sea and i rain buckets of sweat.
Quick excerpt from my coach from last year:
CH:
So if you lost 4.6lbs/hour during your run test then you need to drink 74oz./hour. You should be aiming for 3 x24oz. bottles/hour. This is based off of conditions similar to what you tested on. On hotter days it will have to be more. Time to start drinking up.
I grew up playing hockey - so I am used to cold weather sports - so the last 3 years have been … interesting for my body.
Not quite uneventful, pain started at mile 70 of a 100 mile ride, spent night in ER, still not sure if its gone, felt pretty crummy for about 10 days after, but no pain for last 10 days. I have been drinking more than I thought possible for the last 3 weeks.
Yes heavy salty sweater also. I do think the training has helped, I did a humid but not super hot 1/2 in Florida 6 weeks ago and the run felt like the treadmill in my basement, in the past I would have wilted.
Not quite uneventful, pain started at mile 70 of a 100 mile ride, spent night in ER, still not sure if its gone, felt pretty crummy for about 10 days after, but no pain for last 10 days. I have been drinking more than I thought possible for the last 3 weeks.
Yes heavy salty sweater also. I do think the training has helped, I did a humid but not super hot 1/2 in Florida 6 weeks ago and the run felt like the treadmill in my basement, in the past I would have wilted.
Chad Albright bib 728!!
Curious to see if this training method pays off those dividends.
