Improve Triathlon Performance In The Heat With The Sauna Protocol & Heat Acclimation Training
Discuss racing with any endurance athlete, and almost all of them can tell you a story of the perils of training and racing in hot and humid conditions. Some of the fittest folks on the planet implode on race day when the temps climb. The annual IRONMAN World Championships in Hawaii are famous for destroying people's dreams simply due to the event’s environment. A trifecta of wind, heat, and humidity can throw off the performance of even the best athletes in the world. The good news is that there is an accessible pathway to prepare yourself to perform in hot conditions with our sauna protocol and heat acclimation training. Allow this piece to be your step-by-step guide to success when racing in heat and humidity.
Today we’ll cover:
Challenges of Heat
It is essential to break down performance with a little dose of simple physiology to understand the mission behind the sauna protocol and heat acclimation training. Here are the need-to-knows.
Your Body is a Furnace
When you exercise, your effort generates tremendous internal heat. Your body must dissipate this heat, or performance will decline dramatically. Nothing is more corrosive to your brain and organs than a massive rise in core temperature. So, do the work, get rid of the heat. Simple. The challenge is when you complete this work in a hot and humid climate. This external environment amplifies the build-up of internal heat and declines the effectiveness of cooling through the skin.
How Your Body Cools
Your body's a marvel at getting rid of the heat your body generates. The heat is carried in the blood and delivered to the skin, from which the heat escapes via evaporation. Our bodies are cooling machines, but in humid areas, the body is less effective at evaporation, as there is already high water content in the hot and sticky air. As a result, our cooling rate goes down, and our body fights to get rid of the heat with greater urgency.
The Competition Builds Up
If we generate high heat but suddenly face lower effectiveness in offloading it, competition within our body occurs. Warning: Here comes a little brush with physiology. Your body is (we hope) a closed system of circulating blood, pumped from the heart and traveling around the body, returning through the lungs to offload CO2 and other byproducts and re-upping on oxygen molecules. So, around and around it goes, performing a few significant tasks for you, the endurance athlete:
Delivers oxygen to the working muscle to create energy and offload byproducts.
Drives blood to the skin to dissipate heat.
Assists with the absorption of nutrients by sending blood to the GI system.
Sauna Protocol
There is no single way to prepare you for heat performance, but I will outline a few strategies to ensure success. Your primary goal is to drive simple physiological adaptations to enhance capacity and familiarize yourself with the conditions. The mission is to:
Boost plasma volume
Increase oxygen-carrying capacity
The body is an adaptive machine and responds to stimuli. If you don’t believe me, check out this vital piece on stress and how we are all adaptation machines. So, while performance in the heat is never easy, we can prepare physiologically with sauna protocol and heat acclimation training.
The Protocol
This protocol assumes you have access to a sauna that you can access immediately following a workout:
Post-workout, only on days of key training (not easy days).
Finish the workout under normal conditions and fueling – please ensure your quality of training doesn’t drop.
No hydration in the last 10-15 minutes of the workout.
Post-workout refuel is ok (a quick snack of protein and carbohydrates).
No hydration post-workout.
Spend 15-30 minutes in a sauna with no hydration –you should get out when very uncomfortable.
Rehydrate gradually over the next 3-5 hours – hydration is critical once the stimulus is complete.
Hot Water Immersion (HWI)
Of course, gaining access to a sauna is not easy for most, but there is a wonderful alternative. I became aware of HWI via my work with nutrition and performance expert Scott Tindal, Co-Founder of FuelIn. Their heat acclimation protocol employs a hot bath for athletes who do not have access to a sauna. So, if you settle into a good Netflix episode lasting 30 minutes, you are good to go. Just don’t assume it’s a spa-like experience:
30 mins minimum up to 40 mins preferred.
Ideally, 10 sessions over 10 consecutive days.
Benefits have been shown after 6 sessions if you are time-starved.
Start two weeks before your race and finish 3-4 days before race day.
Benefits will last at least 14 days after ceasing the protocol, although adaptations decline rapidly.
HWI should be performed immediately after your workouts.
Immerse up to neck level - this is a key element.
Keep a thermometer in the water and top up to keep water temp constant.
Hot water is essential; aim to work up to 40C (104F) over 3-4 sessions.
Weigh yourself before and after, and then rehydrate with fluids equivalent to 150-200% of the weight loss; use electrolytes and water to achieve this rehydration.
A final reminder from Scott Tindal: "Heating bouts should have a minimum duration of 30 min and be employed on consecutive days, when possible, with interventions having a minimum of 6 exposures for successful adaptations."
Heat Acclimation Training
Please beware; many athletes corrupt performance in key training sessions by adding heat stimulus. While this might stimulate heat adaptations, it destroys quality training. Therefore, I prefer only utilizing heat acclimation sessions during easier workouts. Below is an outline of how to effectively incorporate heat acclimatization into your training:
30-60 minutes on a trainer or very easy running.
Make sure it is a hot environment, with no fan, as warm as possible.
Minimal hydration (you can consume some fluids).
No fueling is needed.
All Z1 to Z2 in effort – conversational intensity.
Add clothes if you need to increase temperatures.
No intervals should be included in these workouts.
If you are time-starved, then never compromise key training. Heat acclimation sessions are only appropriate if you have time and energy.
Leveraging two of the options outlined (training and sauna, or training and HWI) in the final two to three weeks before key events (10-21 days before travel) will result in an excellent setup for performance in hotter climates.
Recovery Scorecard
If executed well, heat protocols can give you the following results without additional fatigue or depletion. However, if you simply chase the results without careful self-management, you may arrive depleted and tired on race day. If done right, beyond our primary goal of boosting blood volume, the benefits of heat adaptation also include:
Earlier sweat threshold = improved cooling.
Greater sweat rate = improved cooling.
Lowering perceived effort at all levels of work.
Delayed onset of perception of fatigue.
Emotional readiness to manage heat.
Heat training can take a toll on the body. Make sure you’re recovering correctly with our Recovery Scorecard.
Download for free now and track your recovery.
The little salt and pepper of magic is there but proceed with caution.
If you would like individual assistance in your heat preparation or training - we invite you to schedule a coaching consultation with one of the Purple Patch Team. If you would like to learn more about FUELIn or require support in your nutrition, fueling, hydration, or heat preparation, then find out more HERE. Finally - we always welcome hearing from you. If you would like to schedule a call to learn how Purple Patch could help you on your journey, send us a note at info@purplepatchfitness.com.
I hope that helps.
Cheers,
Matt Dixon