How do you maintain your motivation to exercise when it's so hot?

Options
24

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Options
    Air conditioned gym

    Walk in the woods

    Walk in the mall

    Move to a more temperate location like England

    Swim
  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
    Options
    Yeah, DC-area for me too and it is hot! High 90s plus humidity -- still, not as hot as some people and I don't know how they do it. I do belong to a gym, which is our local community center. Unfortunately they close the entire center for three weeks in August for the county fair and then for maintenance. I do have to walk my dog once every day (my husband does the second walk) so I try to get out early in the morning to do that.

    I'm on call at a local hospital so on nights that I'm there (I usually sleep there when I'm on call) I walk up and down the stairs, and do rounds in the entire hospital. Some days at home I march in place or walk up and down my basement stairs. I keep meaning to look on the tv and see if there are any exercise shows on. Or I need to buy a DVD.

    I have a step tracker so that's the motivation for my marching in place -- I'm trying to get more steps in to get the little dots (MisFit) up to my goal, from whatever I accumulated on my morning dog walk.

    On another thread someone said to put some lively music on and just dance around the living room. Excellent idea however I'm not willing to do that with anyone else home. :blush: lol

    Not much help probably, but that's what I've been trying to do. I CANNOT wait until fall to be able to take lovely long walks in the kind of weather that requires a hoodie or sweater. :)
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Options
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    strong_curves wrote: »
    It's not as hot at 5 am in the morning.
    True, but 86 at 5:15AM is crappy in its own way. Still better than 106 at 5:15PM, though.

    I'd take 86 with little to no sun 8 days a week, humidity level also makes a big difference. When I was stationed in death valley, we used to workout at 5am. It was in the mid 90's, but felt like the mid 70's because there was 0 humidity.
  • Graymanstole
    Graymanstole Posts: 257 Member
    Options
    I work out in the heat. The rain. The snow. Only lightning prevents me from working out as I'm highly allergic to it. I love being outside, and prefer that to the gym any day of the week. I also remind myself that if I wait for "perfect" weather to work out in, I'd only do it three times a year.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    Options
    The heat doesn't bother me at all, but I cannot walk very fast when it's so humid because I can't breathe, lol.

    I walk slowly. I swim. I wait for October to arrive. :)
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Options
    I also use Leslie Sansone dvds indoors when the weather isn't cooperative and have a good stationary bike w/2 fans pointed at it!
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    Options
    I second the poster above regarding you tube videos. They're free, you do them indoors and you can ramp them up when they get too repetitious or simple.
  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
    Options
    try2again wrote: »
    I also use Leslie Sansone dvds indoors when the weather isn't cooperative and have a good stationary bike w/2 fans pointed at it!

    Oh yeah, duh (as my kids would say)...YouTube. lol at me. I was thinking that one of the cable channels might have exercise programs, but YouTube is much more convenient. My son always reminds me "Mom! You can find anything on YouTube!" :smiley:
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
    Options
    Design4Me wrote: »
    I've been trying to exercise to lose weight. I'm working with a nutritionist, have learned a lot and with my new eating habits in place have lost 9 pounds but I am struggling to be consistent in walking and in exercising when it's so hot. Outside temperatures are ranging above 100 degrees and sometimes inside seems not much better - how do you do it?
    How?
    I get out in the heat and sit...read a book.
    I open up all the windows and keep the AC off.
    Let your body acclimate.
    Another great summer habit is swimming. Just go to a pool and play around in the water which keeps you cool and allows you time to breath that hot air. You adapt.
    If all you do is hide from the heat in the AC, outside will always seem too hot.
    Maybe this could help you; good luck... :)
  • tannibal_lecter
    tannibal_lecter Posts: 83 Member
    Options
    I go out right before sunset. I live in a semi-desert and it cools off a bit before the sun goes down. Also it doesn't start getting really hot here until 9am so morning outings are nice.
  • dinsfamily
    dinsfamily Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    Another South Texan here. 5:30am is my jam. 79 and humid in the dark, but better than the high of 101. Lately it just hasn't been cooling off in the evenings at all. Early temps are okay, but wish I could order up a little breeze. It was so still yesterday that my face felt like it was burning after each interval. Upside is that I lost .8 lbs in water weight (even after drinking my recovery shake plus my regular 10 cups). Take that water retention!

    On non-running days, I work out at my gym with a beautiful AC unit. Can't wait to put in our pool...someday.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Options
    RGv2 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    strong_curves wrote: »
    It's not as hot at 5 am in the morning.
    True, but 86 at 5:15AM is crappy in its own way. Still better than 106 at 5:15PM, though.

    I'd take 86 with little to no sun 8 days a week, humidity level also makes a big difference. When I was stationed in death valley, we used to workout at 5am. It was in the mid 90's, but felt like the mid 70's because there was 0 humidity.
    We also have the humidity, though. When I step outside onto my front porch, it feels like somewhere between "I just got done watering the lawn for an hour" and "It just stopped raining," depending on the day.

    I've been to Vegas and Arizona in the summer. 115 with lower humidity is far, far more tolerable... as long as you don't touch metal. The metal is freaking hot with or without humidity.
  • kthompson601
    kthompson601 Posts: 174 Member
    Options
    I hear you! I live in DC, which is basically a swamp. We've had a brutal summer and the humidity is just disgusting! On top of that, I am a massive, nasty sweater--always have been; I thought losing 76 pounds would make me sweat less, but nope! So when it's that nasty outside, and not much better in my apartment complex's gym, I just have to tell myself: This is going to be uncomfortable. You are not going to be happy. You are going to be sweaty and smelly and gross and nasty for about an hour. But it's just an hour. You can totally do one hour and then have a cold shower.

    I've found that getting used to exercise has been mainly a mental exercise in putting up with some momentary discomfort. Would I rather be reading than jogging? Of course. But it's just an hour. I can take one hour to do something that is exponentially good for my body. I can swallow down the discomfort of being soaking wet sweaty and smelly.
  • airbent
    airbent Posts: 150 Member
    Options
    I wait til 7-730 pm to walk, not nearly as bad.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    Options
    Last month almost all of my bike rides were 95-103 degrees outside

    I took two bottles of water wit electrolytes and pressed on those 3-4 days a week.

    The indoor gym days felt nice as a break

    Just be mindful not to dehydrate and bonk!!
  • noclady1995
    noclady1995 Posts: 452 Member
    Options
    I feel your pain. It's been so hot here in N. Texas and humid. For me it's not even the heat that bothers me, as much as the humidity. It's just so hard to breathe in it. I don't do anything outside, but I do workout in my garage (have a home gym). I run our industrial fan, keep a big bottle of cold water on hand, and towels and just push through my workouts. And because I've been doing it all summer, I've gotten pretty used to it. I was thinking this morning about having to work out in the cold weather in a couple of months, and that to me is going to be worse. I hate the cold. At the end of the day, working out has to be done so that I can get to where I want to be in my fitness. And that's what motivates me despite any kind of challenges.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    Options
    I have gotten acclimated by working outside starting in the spring and through the summer. If I had to start cold turkey, I don't think I could do it.
  • ECTexan
    ECTexan Posts: 195 Member
    Options
    I'm in Houston, it's been 100+ for like the last 2 weeks. I have some exercise programs like P90x and the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and whatnot. You can find stuff like that free around the web and on YouTube. Or you can Torrent if you like to live life on the edge like me lol. But I'm the kind who just can't get motivated to workout at home. If I don't go somewhere else, exercise won't happen. So I'm a gym member and I'm there at least 5 days a week. Gyms don't have to be super expensive, either. If you have a Planet Fitness nearby, they're only like $10/mo. Otherwise, I swim whenever I can. Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, anywhere I can find water. Gives me a great reason to travel, too! I also do plenty of dog walking. I take him before 7a and after 8p so he doesn't burn his paw pads on the pavement.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    Options
    It's just before noon here. 87 degrees and 69% humidity.

    As the day goes on, it will get worse. It will rain, probably a lot, likely with thunder and lightning. It's a typical summer day.

    Since I know it will rain late in the day, I do my walking and swimming early. Wherever you live, it's something. Humid, rainy summers or snow and icey winters. You just have to fin the thing that works for you with whatever bad weather you have.

    Don't let it be an excuse! Never quit. :)
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited August 2015
    Options
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    strong_curves wrote: »
    It's not as hot at 5 am in the morning.
    True, but 86 at 5:15AM is crappy in its own way. Still better than 106 at 5:15PM, though.
    It's like that here, too. In the summer I get up early and run before the sun gets very high and the heat really sets in. Most of the year the humidity is pretty low but right now is our rainy season so it's usually around 80° and 60% humidity or higher at 5:30am.

    My motivation is that I know that running in the heat will make me faster when it finally cools down, which won't really be until late October (if I'm lucky) or mid-November. Heat makes your body work harder so while it's tougher on me now I know I'm going to be very happy with the results come race season.

Categories