Dr. George L. Dixon - "Talking Fitness"

As the weather becomes warmer, we cool ourselves by sweating. Clothing should be loose and "wick" the fluid away and then any breeze will help cool us. Put away the towel and let the sweat evaporate, it cools you. An oscillating fan works well indoors. Leave a window open. The motion of running, walking, or biking makes its own breeze outdoors. You can be your very own portable swamp cooler. Just add water.

Help nature cool you by drinking 6-8 ounces of water fifteen to twenty minutes before physical activity and 4-6 ounces every 15-20 minutes during your activity. The authorities say you should drink 8 eight ounce glasses of water daily, but I got pretty water logged when I tried it.

Your body can lose an astonishing quart of water per hour of work or exercise. The hotter it is, the more you will lose by evaporation and need to replace. Do NOT wait until you are thirsty, because your normal human detection device is not very sensitive. You can be far behind in fluid replacement before you know it. Drink your fluids by the clock. The older you are, the less efficient your sweating-cooling system works, so be gentle with yourself.

"Sport" drinks are usually not needed for ordinary work or sports unless they last over 1 1/2 hours and in quite hot weather. Glucose solution in the usual commercial drink concentration of 6% is absorbed more rapidly than plain water.

Caffeine in any drink, carbonated, iced tea, coffee, will act as a diuretic and your kidneys will cause you to lose as much fluid as you take in!

The best and safest fluid replacement is WATER. Added ice is nice but don't drink it too fast.

Find more details of hot weather work and activities in  "Exercise a la Carte", here, at your bookstore or call 800-624-4952.