I find that humidity plays an even bigger role than heat alone. Training in Cape Town in summer in the dry heat vs the humidity in Dubai is markedly different, even at night.
From my experience - recently I've run half marathon in 2:16 at +30°C heat, two weeks after I've finished another one in 1:47 at +11°C. So, pretty much I would say 😅
short answer , ALOT had a race where we started at 7 am at 19c and by 9am we were hitting 34c and some points in the race it spiked up to 40 c the race was held in the cradle nature reserve (gauteng , south africa)
I live in a tropical country where temperatures regularly hit 40C or more. Last year I was in Japan for a cycling trip, and I found myself bombing up and down mountains in 13C temperatures like it was nothing where back home I would be struggling on small climbs. So yes, heat does impact your performance.
Sydney based and training for mid November 1/2 Mara in NZ- Queenstown- off a very fit based. As days are warming up the long runs are getting way harder than same distance/ time earlier in the year when it was colder
I would love to see a test result the other way around. Similar to many commenters here, I live in Singapore and train daily in 30 - 34C and humidity above 80%. How much of a performance increase can we expect when doing a race at 25C, or 20C for example. I'm looking at doing my first 70.3 next year, and would be very interested to see how much 'faster' or 'easier effort' a race can be in colder weather conditions. Which will greatly impact my choice of location for the 70.3.
During the summer in Izmir, Turkey, the temperature hovers around 40 degrees Celsius, which is killing me. For the past two years, I've switched from running to cycling in the summer.
I live in central Australia where spring is 35 degrees. Do your training zones change due to the heat? Aka cold zone 2 runs are sub 6min/km yet heat is 7min/km. Honestly when it’s hot I’m not willing to walk to stay in zone two lol
Zones are generally set based on intensity (usually heart rate), which is acutely affected by your environment. Using your example, if your Zone 2 is set at 130bpm and that equates to 6min/km in cool conditions, but in the heat, for the same 130bpm effort your pace drops to 7min/km, it's far better to let the pace drop to remain in the intended zone than to bury yourself to hold an arbitrary pace. That's really where the benefit of acclimation comes in, since as you acclimatise to the heat over several sessions you'll steadily see pace/power increase whilst heart rate is maintained, or even drops in some cases.
from my experience, it depends how you read it (and use it); in theory, if you go to lab where conditions are consistent, you will get accurate measurements that will relate to your actual fitness level based purely on your training etc. so the heat/climate will not affect it; if you only read VO2max from watch like Garmin, you may see significant changes because you're capable of better performances in colder climates which in turn makes watch think how you improved because it does not know anything about the conditions you exercise in and what is your's body reaction to it. Garmin says it tries to take into account the temperatures, but from my experience, if it does, then it's very very subtle. It's more just about performance (HR against pace I am running at).
so for folks who live in equator thats always hot, do we get performance boost when we race in colder climate (not winter level)? or theres a need to do some kind of acclimatization too?
We do measure and display core temp using the CORE device in the PPL during all heat sessions. If you're interested in the guys numbers from this session, Minty's core temp started at 37.0C and rose to 38.90C, whereas James' core temp started at 37.12C and rose to 38.39C.
@@precisionfandh Thanks! I've been doing structured heat training with CORE for the past two months and been quite surprised how much I can tolerate (that I didn't previously think i could) and how much the heat training can help. Only problem now is that my sweat rate is so high, I make a puddled mess during all of my indoor rides, even with the fan going. Keep up the great work PH!
@@trbeyond An increased sweat rate is one of the common adaptations to structured heat training. It represents the body becoming more efficient at cooling itself through an earlier and faster-sweating response, but, primarily it is from an increased capacity for evaporative cooling. This can push in-session hydration further up the priority list to make sure you’re able to get the most out of your training and racing, especially in hotter conditions and races.
@@precisionfandh. Thanks for all these responses. Does PH have any guidance regarding the need or recommendations for cycling on/off heat training for general preparedness. In other words, once someone is very well heat acclimated, should they aim to maintain this year round by doing one or two sessions per week, or is it something - similar to general fitness - that I should “detrain” for a period of time? And if so, what is the longest period of time someone would want to maintain heat acclimation during the season (e.g. 2 months/ 5 months etc…)?
@@trbeyond Great question. This really depends on what your training and racing goals are. If you race frequently this seems like a sensible way to maintain some adaptions while allowing yourself enough training time outside of the heat to target other training goals. At the end of the season, as usual, some time off for all types of dedicated training is always recommended. A potential downside to staying heat-acclimated year-round is the potential to miss out on other training goals, but you may be able to fit it all in! Evidence has shown significant benefits with heat training for as long as 6 weeks in a row. We wouldn’t expect there to be a cut-off to this per se, but how long you continued would depend on your training and racing goals. Once acclimated we can re-acclimate faster (research shows that can re-acclimate within 5 days if you have done 14 days of heat acclimation the month prior). Therefore it makes sense to fit in a dedicated block of ~6 weeks of heat training in your base phase where feasible and then simply maintain throughout the season with 1-2 sessions per week where it’s feasible. You could also introduce a condensed block of ~5 sessions before key events to ensure you are as close to fully heat-adapted as possible.
Technically it should speed you up not slow you down. Warmer more humid air is less dense than cooler dryer air. Not only that but your body spends more energy trying to warm you up in cool conditions than trying to cool you down and warm conditions. Being overheated actually saves you energy. But then I was born and raised in Florida so heat is nothing for me. It has absolutely no effect on my performance. Heat is all I've ever known.
We’re talking about cardiovascular activities here, heat increases your heart rate and prevents your body from cooling down, causing your performance to drop drastically. I wonder if you’ve ever done cardio in your life!
Have you ever raced in extreme heat? 🥵
I did 127km last week, which one hour at top heat of 39 celcius.... i need to stop every 10 minutes....
I find that humidity plays an even bigger role than heat alone. Training in Cape Town in summer in the dry heat vs the humidity in Dubai is markedly different, even at night.
From my experience - recently I've run half marathon in 2:16 at +30°C heat, two weeks after I've finished another one in 1:47 at +11°C. So, pretty much I would say 😅
Thank you James for suffering for content.
short answer , ALOT
had a race where we started at 7 am at 19c and by 9am we were hitting 34c and some points in the race it spiked up to 40 c the race was held in the cradle nature reserve (gauteng , south africa)
I live in a tropical country where temperatures regularly hit 40C or more. Last year I was in Japan for a cycling trip, and I found myself bombing up and down mountains in 13C temperatures like it was nothing where back home I would be struggling on small climbs. So yes, heat does impact your performance.
How about 40 C heat with a humidity of 90%, my vo2 max dropped from 58 to 46 when summer started in my country.
Great video! Thank you from a warm South Africa.
Sydney based and training for mid November 1/2 Mara in NZ- Queenstown- off a very fit based. As days are warming up the long runs are getting way harder than same distance/ time earlier in the year when it was colder
I would love to see a test result the other way around. Similar to many commenters here, I live in Singapore and train daily in 30 - 34C and humidity above 80%. How much of a performance increase can we expect when doing a race at 25C, or 20C for example. I'm looking at doing my first 70.3 next year, and would be very interested to see how much 'faster' or 'easier effort' a race can be in colder weather conditions. Which will greatly impact my choice of location for the 70.3.
During the summer in Izmir, Turkey, the temperature hovers around 40 degrees Celsius, which is killing me. For the past two years, I've switched from running to cycling in the summer.
I live in central Australia where spring is 35 degrees. Do your training zones change due to the heat? Aka cold zone 2 runs are sub 6min/km yet heat is 7min/km. Honestly when it’s hot I’m not willing to walk to stay in zone two lol
Zones are generally set based on intensity (usually heart rate), which is acutely affected by your environment. Using your example, if your Zone 2 is set at 130bpm and that equates to 6min/km in cool conditions, but in the heat, for the same 130bpm effort your pace drops to 7min/km, it's far better to let the pace drop to remain in the intended zone than to bury yourself to hold an arbitrary pace.
That's really where the benefit of acclimation comes in, since as you acclimatise to the heat over several sessions you'll steadily see pace/power increase whilst heart rate is maintained, or even drops in some cases.
do I have to 'reset' my VO2 max measurement on my watch if I move to hotter climate
Personally I think HEAT would work for me as I feel the cold too quickly…not sure on the bike though! Thank you Coach👍
I've been jogging in 35C humidity 50%, which feels much better than 31C hum 85%
so pretty much my VO2max will also increase if I run in colder environments?
from my experience, it depends how you read it (and use it); in theory, if you go to lab where conditions are consistent, you will get accurate measurements that will relate to your actual fitness level based purely on your training etc. so the heat/climate will not affect it; if you only read VO2max from watch like Garmin, you may see significant changes because you're capable of better performances in colder climates which in turn makes watch think how you improved because it does not know anything about the conditions you exercise in and what is your's body reaction to it. Garmin says it tries to take into account the temperatures, but from my experience, if it does, then it's very very subtle. It's more just about performance (HR against pace I am running at).
so for folks who live in equator thats always hot, do we get performance boost when we race in colder climate (not winter level)?
or theres a need to do some kind of acclimatization too?
Yes, we do get performance boost when racing in a colder weather. A lot!!
Interestingly my performance increases with heat and decreases with cold despite growing up in the chilly and wet UK.
Warm pools absolutely kill me. My pace has to really drop to stay the distance if that's what I'm training for.
As a Norwegian I can guarantee you that my performance drops off above 28C....
Would have been much more interesting if you shared what your Core temp thermometer was during the 26 minutes.
We do measure and display core temp using the CORE device in the PPL during all heat sessions. If you're interested in the guys numbers from this session, Minty's core temp started at 37.0C and rose to 38.90C, whereas James' core temp started at 37.12C and rose to 38.39C.
@@precisionfandh Thanks! I've been doing structured heat training with CORE for the past two months and been quite surprised how much I can tolerate (that I didn't previously think i could) and how much the heat training can help. Only problem now is that my sweat rate is so high, I make a puddled mess during all of my indoor rides, even with the fan going. Keep up the great work PH!
@@trbeyond An increased sweat rate is one of the common adaptations to structured heat training. It represents the body becoming more efficient at cooling itself through an earlier and faster-sweating response, but, primarily it is from an increased capacity for evaporative cooling. This can push in-session hydration further up the priority list to make sure you’re able to get the most out of your training and racing, especially in hotter conditions and races.
@@precisionfandh. Thanks for all these responses. Does PH have any guidance regarding the need or recommendations for cycling on/off heat training for general preparedness. In other words, once someone is very well heat acclimated, should they aim to maintain this year round by doing one or two sessions per week, or is it something - similar to general fitness - that I should “detrain” for a period of time? And if so, what is the longest period of time someone would want to maintain heat acclimation during the season (e.g. 2 months/ 5 months etc…)?
@@trbeyond Great question. This really depends on what your training and racing goals are. If you race frequently this seems like a sensible way to maintain some adaptions while allowing yourself enough training time outside of the heat to target other training goals. At the end of the season, as usual, some time off for all types of dedicated training is always recommended. A potential downside to staying heat-acclimated year-round is the potential to miss out on other training goals, but you may be able to fit it all in!
Evidence has shown significant benefits with heat training for as long as 6 weeks in a row. We wouldn’t expect there to be a cut-off to this per se, but how long you continued would depend on your training and racing goals. Once acclimated we can re-acclimate faster (research shows that can re-acclimate within 5 days if you have done 14 days of heat acclimation the month prior). Therefore it makes sense to fit in a dedicated block of ~6 weeks of heat training in your base phase where feasible and then simply maintain throughout the season with 1-2 sessions per week where it’s feasible. You could also introduce a condensed block of ~5 sessions before key events to ensure you are as close to fully heat-adapted as possible.
Technically it should speed you up not slow you down. Warmer more humid air is less dense than cooler dryer air. Not only that but your body spends more energy trying to warm you up in cool conditions than trying to cool you down and warm conditions. Being overheated actually saves you energy. But then I was born and raised in Florida so heat is nothing for me. It has absolutely no effect on my performance. Heat is all I've ever known.
We’re talking about cardiovascular activities here, heat increases your heart rate and prevents your body from cooling down, causing your performance to drop drastically. I wonder if you’ve ever done cardio in your life!