How keeping your cool can keep you healthy
As temperatures show no signs of abating, Maria Lally explains how to work out safely – and what you should and shouldn’t eat
‘Summer bodies are made in winter” goes the saying of personal trainers. But, according to a new fitness trend, it should be: “Summer bodies are made in winter weather.” In the last few years, studies have increasingly found exercising in cold temperatures gets better results. And gyms have been quick to capitalise on the trend by introducing cold workouts, where gym-goers exercise in chilly rooms.
One such place is Brrrn in New York, a so-called “cold gym”, which opened in May and is chilled to 45F (7C) by four huge refrigeration units.
“The theory goes that you burn more calories in the cold,” says London-based personal trainer Matt Roberts, whose clients have included David and Samantha Cameron, and designer Tom Ford.
“Research has shown that working out in colder temperature works your body harder because not only is it exercising, but it’s also working to raise its core temperature. You’re overloading your system, in a good way, and the tissue inside your lungs is working harder, so you’re burning more calories and working your muscles harder.
“A similar theory about exercising in hot temperatures has been around for a while, and now the evidence is that working out in the cold has a similar effect. Basically, if your body has to work hard to stay warm or cold during exercise, you’re going to get better results. It’s making temperature extremes work for you. Cryotherapy is also an extension of the keeping cold for health theory.”
Cryotherapy involves getting into a special tank, which has temperatures of -300F (-184C) for two or three minutes at a time, and has fans including Jennifer Aniston and David Beckham. You can find these cold chambers in gyms, spas and retreats all over the UK, and the benefits are said to include increased blood flow, reduced inflammation, weight loss and skin toning.
Chilled gyms and cryotherapy aside, here are other ways to keep cool in the summer heat…
What to eat and drink
Heatwaves can be fairly hard to navigate food-wise. Once the initial joy of finally seeing some sun subsides, many are plagued by a loss of appetite, which can leave you feeling unwell during the hotter temperatures.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: make sure to drink lots of water to make up for fluids lost through extra sweating and to ward off dehydration, and also because fluids carry nutrients to your cells. If you don’t like it plain, try sparkling, or add a slice of lemon or lime to give it some flavour.
Watermelon
As well as being delicious and perfect for picnics and barbecues, watermelon contains a nutrient called lycopene that can protect your skin from sun exposure. Lycopene is the pigment that makes fruit and veg a
vibrant red. Other sources include tomatoes (particularly cooked ones), papaya, pink grapefruit and guava.
Salad
Vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, celery and radishes are all made up of more than 95per cent water. Eating them on a warm day will help you reach your recommended daily eight glasses of water, keeping you hydrated and cool. Strawberries and courgettes are also nature’s own waterbombs.
Tea
Although you might crave ice-cold drinks in the heat, a lukewarm drink will actually help to regulate your body temperature. Tea is a mild diuretic, but sweating – and, more importantly, the evaporation of this sweat – is key for maintaining heat balance. Due to the increased heat load from drinking a warm drink, there is a compensatory increase in overall sweat output, which outweighs the internal heat gain from the warm drink.
Alcohol
Disappointing when you really fancy a cold beer or chilled glass of wine, yes. But while beer gardens and heatwaves seem to go hand-in-hand, too much alcohol can rapidly dehydrate you. It also acts as a powerful diuretic, causing you to urinate more, meaning you become even more dehydrated.
Mangoes
Like alcohol, mangoes act as a diuretic so should be avoided when the weather is warm. For the same reason, it’s best to stay away from fennel, artichokes and asparagus.
Meat
For many of us, when the sun comes out our first instinct is to warm up the barbecue, but during a heatwave go easy on meat. Digesting the protein in meat requires a lot of energy, creating a process called thermogenesis. That’s meat sweats to you.
Lollies, slushies and ice cream
You might crave a cool lolly, but that Calippo might do you more harm than good. Digesting cold foods actually causes core temperature to increase, as your body over-compensates for the rapid cooling initiated by cold foods.