Day 72: A Little Late for Safety

After almost passing out the other day I have been thinking about workout safety.  I believe my problem was as much from heat as maybe dehydration.  After completely soaking a shirt in the sun while working in my garden I should have rehydrated and rested before I headed out.  I won’t make that mistake again. 

Here are some basic safety tips:

ü  Wear the proper clothes and shoes – I own several of the moisture wicking shirts and they work great.  They are lighter and breathe better than cotton shirts.  Proper shoes are important as well.  You should foot ware appropriate to the activity you are preforming. 

ü  Divide your work out – With most of the country experiencing record heat, if you like to jog outside like I do divide you jog into two shorter jogs you will still burn the same amount of calories.

ü  Move Indoors – This seem like a no brainer but I would have probably been better if I had gone to the air conditioned gym and hit the treadmill.

ü  Rehydrate Often – This is a big one.  I recently read that as much as 75% of the population is dehydrated at any given time and 30% spend their lives in perpetual dehydration.  Losing just 2% of your body water can give you a headache, trouble focusing, short term memory loss, and aggravation so stay hydrated!

ü  Know Yourself & Listen to Your Body – I did that, when my I got dizzy I went in a cooled off immediately.  You know the mantra “No Pain, No Gain” would depend on your pain. If your pain is from challenging yourself that is good but if it’s debilitating it’s not good pain you should probably get that checked out.

There are others like “Always stretch and warm up” or “Never work out on an empty stomach” but you can find conflicting information about these.  I, for one, never stretch or warm up.  At least not like a full warm up routine.  Before I go for a run I will usually jump up and down a couple of times and swing my arms and then go.  That’s it.

As for working out on an empty stomach I believe I have covered this.  Some experts will tell you never do it while others will say it’s okay as long as you don’t go over 30 to 45 minutes.  I usually never go over 30 on an empty stomach and I won’t lift weights.  I will do cardio, yoga, or Pilates.

Today, though, I mowed the grass again for exercise. I had to before it rained yet again. The rain won’t stop and it looked like a cold winter day outside with a high being 86 degrees.  In July and August we usually see days in the mid 90’s.  I remember this orange ball in the sky that used to give off heat and light.  I haven’t seen it in so long I am starting to get a vitamin D deficiency. 

Daily Recap:

Matt: 36 minutes Push Mowing

Kelly: TBD