New York is great in the Summer. Unlike the Winter time everyone has smiles on their faces. Even on the hottest day in the gym, I love that New Yorkers take it in stride. And, just like Winter Time, New York weather is extreme. Mid nineties on the thermometer with 60-75% humidity can literally make your skin burn. Im not joking when I say its hot. So what are the limits of our training when it gets this hot outside? When is training in the heat too much. I have dug around and found some surprising things about High Heat Training that might surprise you.
1. HypoHydration is a real Gainz Killer.
We have all heard that you need to stay hydrated on hot days so that we can keep sweating as the body needs to cool. The level of hydration and the type of exercise have a lot to do with how you will function during and after our workout.
Since our body is primarily water we need to always be watching how much we are sweating and the amount we are drinking. But its not just about overheating. Hypohydration , a fancy way to say dehydration, can have an effect on your endocrine system as well as contribute to overheating.
When the body uses up all the extracellular fluid that is floating around in the plasma then it has to begin to pull intracellular fluid from cells and organs. If you have ever cramped during a bout of exercise because you electrolytes are off, this is a clear example of a form of robbing water from inside tissues. But when you rob fluid from the thyroid, the adrenal glands, and the pancreas, then you are 100% going to impact the chemicals that help you gain muscle and do work.
Testosterone, Cortisol, Insulin, and Adrenaline depend on optimal fluid in the cells to be developed and transferred throughout the body.
2. Heat Shock Proteins and Eccentric Training.
HSPs are adaptive proteins that allow your body to adjust under periods of extreme entropy. As primal animals, we needed to have our bodies adjust to extreme temperature and other environmental dangers like lions or climbing mountains. Heat Shock proteins are turned on when we put our body under a bit of heat stress and this process can actually help us to build muscle.
Eccentric training is arguably the best way to develop intramuscular control as well as boost hypertrophy. As studies of HSPs have revealed, eccentric training coupled with hotter than normal training conditions have elevated our serum levels up to 100X the normal amount.
This means that our ability to manage muscle damage, through hormone and inflammatory blockers is heightened. So try and slow down and do some tempo lifting on hot days!
3. Carbs, Carbs, Carbs.
Protein is amazing at providing the Amino Acids necessary to fight off muscle damage and build new muscle. But on hot days of training we need to watch the intake. Protein is a ‘thermogenic’ food which means that the body needs to expend more calories and HEAT to break it down and digest. With the temperature boiling outside, the last thing your body need to deal with is a overactive digestive system.
Carbohydrates which are nutrient dense like Melons, Berries, Oatmeal, celery, and cucumber are good to help sooth the stomach, provide quick glucose for the body to pull from and are ultra hydrating (maybe not Oatmeal so much).
Post workout, I would add in Protein sources like whey or shrimp because they do not have as much fat as say a Burger which can have adverse effects on a body trying to cool down and recover.
I love the Summer. I love the heat. I love gains. Summer is tough because training schedules are pretty loose and when you do train you want to get the most out of it. So be smart and heed these 3 tips to keep you firing all summer long . And dont forget to workout barefoot. A good thing about it being hot is that your opportunity to have nice tan feet is much greater. Never miss a Moment because a true person of Leisure has a great foot tan.
Love you
Eric
Programming Notes 7/22-7/26 *** Summer Time Program still in effect. We will be super setting with our lifts, maintaining consistency with our olympic lifts and this week we have a fun track workout that will have you really taking stock of your ability to recover. Train hard and I love you.
7/22
Baseline:
2X
30 High Knees
30 Hip Touches
30Butt Kickers
30 Squat Therapy
30 Jumping Pull Ups
*Spend 6 mins working the pull up modifications
-banded
-australian pull ups
-ring rows
-kipping
WOD:
“Cindy”
20 Min AMRAP
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Air Squats
Cool Down:
Couch Stretch
Pigeon Stretch
Plank Hold 2:00
7/23
Baseline:
400m Run
3X
12 PVC Pass Thru
12 PVC Trunk Twist
12 PVC Good Mornings
12 PVC Overhead Squats
Barbell Snatch Prep:
7@ Each
-Snatch Grip Deadlift
-Snatch High Pull
-Muscle Snatch
-Overhead Squat
-Sotts Press
-Hang Snatch
-Snatch
Barbell Skill Work:
4 Rounds Not For Time
3X Snatch Grip Push Press (Hold the lock Out)
1X Snatch balance
3X Snatch Deadlift
WOD:
15-12-9
Snatch @ 135/95. 165/115. 195/135
*Run 400 M After Each set, before loading weights.
**COMPARE TO 8/2/18
7/24
Baseline:
5:00 Cal Bike W/ Resistance band around thighs
3X
12 Kettlebell Goblet Squat
12 Kettlebell Press
12 Kettlebell Side Lunges
8 Burpee Over Kettlebell
Banded Hip Prep:
-Lateral banded Monster Walk
-Linear , internally rotated, monster walk
Strength:
Alternating EMOM 18
A- 3 Backsquats
B- :30 handstand Hold
Conditioning :
27-21-15-9
Dumbbell Lunge
Ring Dips
Cal Bike
7/25
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up @ 10m Each
High Knee Pull
Quad Pull
Squat 180 **stepping the leg high over hip, swing opposite leg to 180, squat
High Knees
Butt kickers
Marching High Kicks
Groiners
Straight leg shuffles
Fig 4 Drill
Lateral Shuffle
Carioca
Lateral Bounding
Sprint W/ Change of Direction
2X
10 Deadbug Contralateral Reach
20 Sprinter Sit Ups
30 Single KB Front Rack Box Step Ups (light)
20 Banded Pass Thru
10 Banded Pull Aparts
Running Intervals:
0-10 Mins : 1 Mile Run
10-15 Mins : 800m Run
15-20 Mins : 400m Run
20-30 Mins : 800m Run
30-35 Mins : 400m Run
35- Finish : 200m Sprint
7/26
Baseline:
2X
5 Divebomber Push Ups
10 Jump Lunge (pause :01 between each rep)
5 Strict Toes to Bar
-Then,-
2X
20 Lateral Hops over Dumbbells
18 Dumbbell Plank Rows
16 Alternating Strict Dumbbell Press
Shoulder Primer:
W/ Light Dumbbells 5-15#
20 Reverse Flys
20 Bent Scare Crows
20 See-Saw Press
20 Front Raises
20 Lateral Raises
Strength:
Landmine Press
12-12-12-12
Super Set With ,
Kettlebell Bent Row
12-12-12-12
WOD;
AMRAP 3
24 box Jump Overs 24/20
18/16 Cal Row
Max Shoulder to Overhead 115/75
-Rest 3 mins-
AMRAP 3
21 Box Jump Overs 24/20
15/12 Cal Row
Max Shoulder To Overhead 135/95
-Rest 3 mins-
AMRAP 3
18 Box Jump Overs 24/20
12/10 Cal Row
Max Shoulder to Overhead 155/105
