Suffering in the Lava Fields - The Effects of Heat on Performance.
Leading scientists all agree - a significant rise in body temperature results in a drop in performance.Scientists also agree that a significant loss of body fluid also leads to a drop in performance.
And these two go hand in hand - warm temperatures increase sweat rates.
When we combine the increase in body temperature and the increase in sweat rates - and resulting loss of body fluids - competing in warm conditions comes with a powerful duo of performance limiters for the athlete. (to calculate your sweat rate go to sweat-loss-calculator)
The effect of heat is reportedly compounded in larger athletes - who have a greater body surface area to both absorb the heat and from which to loose fluids through evaporation.
There are clear strategies that have been employed by athletes competing in extreme temperatures to reduce the limiting effects of heat on the performance. In Kona, Hawaii for example, it was said that larger athletes would never be able to compete well at the Ironman World Championships due to the high heat and humidity and the resulting rise in body temperature and fluid losses. However, athletes became smarter and in recent years we have seen some 6 foot + / 80 kg + athletes do very well in Kona.
But what if there was something more that could be done to limit performance drop-off in these extreme conditions than strategic fluid and electrolyte replacement alone?
Swiss company X-Technology, who are renowned for their innovations, have developed a performance clothing line X-Bionic that approaches heat and fluid management from a unique perspective.
They use fabric technologies to actually slow down the wicking effect of their clothing - holding the fluid close to the body for longer - giving the sweat a greater chance to cool the body before it is evaporated. The result is a stabilizing effect on body temperature which can also ultimately slow sweat rates.
With a stable body temperature and lower sweat rates the two biggest challenges of competing in extreme heat are addressed - offering hope to all who have their eyes set on competing well regardless of the weather conditions on race day. And this is especially good news for larger athletes...
