HEAT TRAINING: Get Your Buns in the Oven

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  Although quite a famous quote (*bonus points if you knew Mark Twain did NOT say this), I think we live in the ONLY part of the country that is actually cold enough to cause us to bump up our thermostats in the  "summer" months.  While the other 49 states are experiencing one of the hottest weather patterns in history, our coastal fog keeps our climate at a balmy 55-65* nearly all year.  

With that said, we spent the weekend in Chico, CA.  The climate could have only been compared to walking directly on the surface of the sun - or riding mid-pack at a Velo Promo race in August.  We melted, and personally, as a girl who grew up riding bikes in the belly of steamy Midwestern summers, I couldn't help but wonder when I had become such a pansy.

It turns out that a handful of Human Physiology researchers at the University of Oregon had a study recently published about this very topic.  They found out that significant physiological gains could be achieved in trained cyclists (weekend warriors beware) by doing 90-minute easy rides in high heat for 10 days prior to competition.  Yes – 90 minutes, in 112 degrees, for 10-days straight will apparently make you crazy fast (possibly also just crazy).

Here’s what they did: Super-smart researchers measured a power-monitored TT performance (Cat. 1 and 2 cyclists) over a 60-minute full gas effort - both at a 55 degree controlled temp, as well as a 100 degree controlled temp.  Then they sent the athletes out into the heat to literally spin their legs in Zone 1 for 10 days in extreme temperatures (>100 degrees), and then replayed the initial assessment.  The surprising results?? Not only did these heat warriors have an 8% performance improvement at the high temperature, but they also had a 6% improvement when they returned to the lower temperature.

By this point I know my teammates – who seem to love epically hot and difficult races – are wondering what’s next.   Well…the researchers concluded that one would still need to train "fast" in normal or cooler conditions, but that a fitness boost could be achieved by training easy at higher temps.  Much like altitude training, one needs normal amounts of oxygen to see performance gains, just as they need normal temperatures to keep body temps under control at high exertion levels.  But, they found that if an athlete can "train cool and taper hot," they will get the boost that they are looking for - increased blood flow through the skin and expanded blood volume allowing the heart to pump more blood. 

This study referenced in today's blog was published in the October issue of The Journal of Applied Physiology (2011).