Thursday, June 25th 2026
Scientists warn that high temperatures could put people’s long-term health at risk by stopping them from exercising. Here’s how to keep going when things heat up.
Staying active in hot weather can be challenging. That’s one reason why players at the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico are being given extra, but controversial, hydration, which is cut 22 minutes into each half. And with record temperatures coming this summer thanks to a powerful El Niño weather pattern, it’s likely to be a tough time to exercise.
Pushing your way through a run or soccer game in extreme heat can be not only uncomfortable, but also dangerous, putting us at risk of heatstroke.
“Walking, biking, outdoor exercise, and even daily routines like walking become more physically demanding and less comfortable when temperatures are high,” says Christian García-Witulski, an environmental lifestyle epidemiologist at Argentina’s Pontifical Catholic University, BBC writes.
But if we reduce our physical activity whenever it feels too hot to exercise outside, this could contribute to long-term health risks.
García-Witulski and his colleagues have warned recently in new research that rising temperatures due to climate change could cause people to move less because of the heat and consequently result in an estimated 470,000 to 700,000 premature deaths per year by 2050.
As you exercise, your muscles contract and generate heat. Your body then tries to cool itself by sweating and diverting blood to the skin.
But this creates a trade-off as the same blood is also needed to supply the muscles with oxygen, says Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney. “Your skin is basically stealing blood from your muscles, so you can’t give them as much oxygen.”
In hot conditions, this can lead to fatigue very quickly, as your body tries to provide enough oxygen to the muscles, but it can also put an extra strain on your heart as it tries to keep up with the demand.
So how do you protect your long-term health by staying active in the heat? Here are some of the strategies researchers say can help you stay cool while staying active:
The most impactful change most people can make is to exercise when it’s cooler, like in the morning or evening, if possible.
You can also choose times when the area you like to exercise in is in the shade instead of in full sun. “This difference can be up to 12-15°C (22-27°F) higher than the air temperature in the shade,” says Ollie Jay, director of the Heat and Health Research Center at the University of Sydney, Klankosova.tv reports.
Humidity also matters. Your body’s main way of losing heat is through sweat evaporating from the skin, which helps lower your body temperature. But in humid conditions, this process is affected as the evaporation that cools your body is reduced.
“There is more moisture in the air and therefore the driving force [of evaporation] is weaker,” says Jay.
Wind speed also plays a role, so running in enclosed spaces with little airflow makes heat stress a greater risk.
Shorten your session or reduce intensity
On days when you can’t avoid the heat, you can consider exercising for shorter periods of time, as well as taking more breaks.
“Sometimes a shorter walk in the morning, or a light movement inside, is safer and more realistic than trying to rigidly stick to the same routine,” says García-Witulski. “Hotter conditions create more heat stress. People tire more easily, sweat more, may feel dizzy or uncomfortable, often sleep worse, and daily movement simply becomes less appealing and, in some cases, less safe.”
Lowering your body temperature before exercise gives you a greater heat buffer before conditions become dangerous.
Rebecca Stearns, a kinesiologist at the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, says that when taking breaks from exercise, find a cooler environment whenever possible. “If you can get into an air-conditioned environment, or even just shade with cold water and a fan, take the time to start cooling down,” she says.
(For those who want to control the potential risk of heat stress, Jay and his colleagues at the University of Sydney have developed a free warm-up tool covering over 40 sports that relies on local weather data.)
When it comes to cooling methods, it may be tempting to use an ice pack. But Stearns says that while ice packs feel cold on the skin, they actually have a surprisingly low cooling rate because they tend to cover only a small portion of the skin.
Immersion cooling may be a better way to cool down. Here you submerge body parts (such as hands and forearms) in cold water. Alternatively, you can pour water on yourself.
“If you take water and apply it to the surface of your skin, and then that water evaporates, that actually does the work of sweating without you having to sweat,” says Jay. This means your body can direct more blood to your muscles to deliver oxygen.
Similarly, a cold wet towel rolled frequently over your arms, legs, and torso also helps cool you down, says Stearns.
Cooling down before going out is also helpful. Research shows that lowering your body temperature before exercise gives you a greater reserve of heat before conditions become dangerous. “A slight decrease in body temperature before entering the heat will give you a longer time before it becomes dangerous,” says Stearns.
This can also be done by drinking ice water, which has been found to cool the body and improve exercise performance.
Gradually increasing the amount of exercise you do in hot weather will allow your body to acclimate to it, a process called heat acclimatization.
In general, says Stearns, after seven to 14 days of regular exercise in the heat, your resting core temperature drops, sweat rate increases and blood plasma volume increases. “You have this huge demand for blood flow. And blood is ultimately what’s going to be able to supply and support all these physiological functions in the heat,” she says.
This adaptation helps your body respond better, she adds, helping to improve performance as well as reduce the risk of heat stress.
But that response is “transient,” says Jay. “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it… If you don’t expose yourself to the heat, then those adaptations you’ve built up will be gone.”
While deaths from exercise in the heat are relatively rare, heat exhaustion is becoming more common.
And exercising too much doesn’t necessarily provide protection against heat exhaustion.
Elite athletes may be at a higher risk. from heat stroke than recreational exercisers because they are already used to pushing themselves “beyond their biological limits,” Stearns says. This can be dangerous since the intensity of the exercise is the main cause of the increase in the body’s internal temperature.
Therefore, she advises that “listening to your body and intentionally stepping back from the pace is your main line of defense”.
If we adapt, adjust the pace and exercise early, we can stay active even when the temperature rises. Heat-related illnesses are still a risk, so signs to watch out for include dizziness, nausea, fatigue and palpitations. If any of these occur, stop immediately and calm down.
Source: prizrenpost
