Recovery in the Heat
You trained in the heat this week and felt wrecked afterwards — flatter than the session deserved, slow to bounce back, a bit headachey by evening. Then you slept badly because the bedroom wouldn't cool down, and the next day's session was worse again. The summer heat doesn't just make training harder; it taxes the recovery, and that's the part that catches people out.
Training in heat asks your body to do two jobs at once — do the workout and cool you down — and it pays for both out of the same account. You sweat more, so you lose more fluid and salt; your heart works harder to move blood to the skin to cool you; and the session leaves you more depleted than the same work would in March. Then heat follows you to bed, where it blunts the deep sleep that does most of your physical repair. Train hard, hydrate poorly and sleep hot for a few days in a row, and you're going to be under-recovering.
The fix is mostly fluid, timing and sleep, and none of it is complicated. Drink across the whole day, not just around the session, and add a little himalayan sea salt or electrolytes to water or food if you're sweating heavily — plain water alone doesn't replace what you lose. Train in the cooler edges of the day where you can: early morning or later evening beats the middle. And protect your sleep, because that's where recovery happens — cool the room before bed, lighter covers, a fan moving the air. On the hottest days, take the intensity down on purpose; a session at the right pace for the conditions does more for you than a hard one you spend two days recovering from.
This isn't about training less through summer. It's about recognising that in heat, recovery needs more attention than usual.
If you're getting headaches, cramping or feeling unwell in the heat, that's your body asking you to stop and cool down, not push through. Listen to it, and speak to your GP if it keeps happening.
Drink earlier, train cooler, sleep colder and you'll come through the hot spell recovered instead of running on empty.
If you'd like training that adjusts to you and the conditions rather than ignoring both, book a free, no-obligation 15-minute chat with Jeremy or Beth at crossfitchiltern.com — no hard sell, and most of us hadn't trained in years when we started.
