How to practice when it’s humid

Anyone who’s gone jogging on a hot, muggy day knows how miserable it can be—not just because your shirt is stuck to your back, experts say, but also because moisture makes sports a lot more challenging.

This is because the sweat on your skin doesn’t evaporate easily, said JohnEric Smith, an associate professor of exercise physiology at Mississippi State University. Sweat itself doesn’t cool, he said, but rather the evaporation of sweat. However, if the air is already thick with water vapor, “the moisture on our skin has nowhere to go,” he said.

As a result, moist air makes it harder for your body to cool down. This can cause the cardiovascular system to become stressed, reducing blood flow to muscles and causing us to fatigue faster than in drier climates. While there isn’t much independent research on how humidity affects the body, small studies about the subject have consistently found that athletes tire more quickly once relative humidity reaches about 60 percent.

But this doesn’t mean you should move all of your workouts indoors if you live in an area that feels like a sauna from June to September. Here are four things you can do to stay cooler in the sticky summer months ahead.

Give your body a few weeks to adjust.

The more you exercise in both heat and humidity, the more your body will do adjust and improve his ability to cool himself, said Dr. Smith. (The same goes, but in reverse, for cold weather.) But since exercising in hot, humid weather is more taxing on the body than exercising in drier conditions, it’s vital to give yourself time to adjust, so you can avoid overheating and exhaustion. .

In just a few days, your body will begin to sweat more and faster, which will help regulate temperature, said Dr. Smith. You will even begin to see an increase in numbers blood volumewhat benefits you heart and circulatory system.

“You get big changes within the first few days of exposure,” he said, but “it generally takes about two weeks to adjust properly.”

When the weather turns humid, Dr. Smith recommends doing shorter, gentler workouts that slowly increase in duration and intensity over two to three weeks, until you get back to your previous exercise routine. If you normally run six miles at a 10-minute pace, scale back to three miles at a 12-minute pace and add speed and mileage as the humidity begins to get less stuffy.

Keep your skin cool.

Because humidity can raise your body temperature more than dry heat, it’s so much more important to keep your skin cool during exercise, said Ahmad Munir Che Muhamed, an associate professor of exercise physiology at Science University of Malaysia who studies how heat and humidity affect on athletic performance.

During exercise, keep as much skin exposed to the air as possible so that sweat can evaporate more easily. (Be sure to wear sunscreen to avoid sun damage.) You also shouldn’t wear cotton clothing, he said, which traps moisture and forms an insulating layer around your body. Instead, wear clothing described as quick-drying or moisture-wicking.

Drying your skin with a towel or wiping the sweat with your wet T-shirt may make you more comfortable in that moment, but it actually interrupts the evaporation process, as it removes moisture from your skin, said Dr. Smith. You may want to let the sweat drip off you, as long as it doesn’t get into your eyes.

And if you work out in one place — say, play tennis or do an outdoor boot camp — spray yourself regularly with cool water and dry off with a portable fan, recommended Dr. Amy Beacom, a primary care sports medicine physician at the Mayo Clinic. If you’re running, do it after a workout for quick relief.

Hydrate, but don’t overdo it.

Humid air can lead to dehydration. The less your sweat evaporates, the hotter you get and the more you sweat, depleting vital fluids and electrolytes like sodium and potassium, said Ronald Maughan, a visiting professor of exercise science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Be sure to hydrate before exercising so you don’t start a workout dehydrated. The American Council on Exercise recommends drinking two to three cups of water a few hours before exercising.

Once you move, the Mayo Clinic recommends sipping on everything, but ultimately “drinking to thirst” to avoid overhydration, which is possible dilute the sodium in your blood and damage your kidneys.

Think about when and where you will exercise.

Humidity in most places is highest in the morning, before the sun dries out the moisture in the atmosphere. Start by regularly checking the humidity in your area at different times throughout the day and plan your workouts accordingly. Dr. Smith recommends The Weather Channel’s app.

And if you can, choose a shady spot or path to exercise, Dr. Maughan said. If your body is already working hard not to overheat in high humidity, exercising in direct sunlight is like adding fuel to the fire. The heat, humidity, the intensity of the sun and even wind all affect how you feel outside, he said. “All of these different factors interact.”