Whether you exercise indoors, outdoors or a little of both, the heat affects you. (That decidedly unscientific tidbit is offered by someone who tends to blame any lack of energy, clumsiness, general malaise, desires to nap and feelings of blah to the heat.)
So while you can’t necessarily beat the heat, you can deal with it. One way? Make your workouts shorter and more intense. We’re not talking total intensity here; just a minute or so popped into the slow. For instance, jog five minutes, then run for one minute like you’re chasing an ice-cream truck. Repeat a time or two.
That’s how I’ve been swimming lately. Instead of swimming continuously, I’ll swim up and down the lane 10 times at a happily poky pace, rest a minute, then go as fast as I can up and back. Rest another minute and repeat maybe three or four times.
This type of workout isn’t something you should limit to warm weather, by the way. Do it a time or two a week all year round because it helps your endurance, speeds you up and helps your overall fitness. You can always find ways to make the most of your time, whether you have one, five, seven or 10 minutes to spare.
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