Introduction
Weather conditions define the level and quality of life considerably in both, positive and negative, ways. That is why when the topic of the effects of extreme weather conditions on athletes training is raised, it is wrong to consider only positive or only negative aspects. It is more important to focus on the changes and needs that have to be admitted by athletes and those, who are involved in a training process. Athletes have to understand that many sporting events are held in unfavorable conditions (Maughan et al., 2010) and be ready for the environmental changes to succeed in training and achieve the required results. Athletes have to pay attention to choosing sports clothing, equipment, and even the time for training in order to develop various strategies as hydration, cooling interventions, or heat acclimatization to protect themselves and understand how to cope with the challenges created by nature.
Benefits
Heat acclimatization is the strategy that can help the athletes’ body to adapt to the hot environment and understand how to improve performance. The intensity and duration of training should be properly defined. Guy, Deakin, Edwards, Miller, and Pyne (2015) admit that 100 min of training per day in the heat is usually enough for athletes. At the same time, athletes should realize that as soon as weather conditions are getting worse (hotter), they have to reduce an amount of clothes and control the amount of equipment that can be allowed. A choice of an appropriate strategy is a chance for an athlete to avoid negative results of the heat on a human body. It has been proved that short-term heat adaptation protocols can be used by athletes to be satisfied with the activities that should be performed and the results that should be achieved (Guy et al., 2015).
Challenges
At the same time, the heat in sports may be characterized by a number of negative aspects that every athlete should know. For example, as any person in the world, an athlete may suffer from heat strokes or hypothermia caused by a too high temperature. It happens that some sportive events are canceled because of extreme weather conditions. Besides, the heat is the reason for athletes and their coaches to think about such strategies like hydration or cooling interventions to be protected against the possibility of harmful effects of weather conditions (Maughan et al., 2010). In spite of the fact that athletes are usually time-poor (Guy et al., 2015), they need to spend their priceless time on adaptation or isolation. It is one of the main challenges any athlete should be ready for. At the same time, athletes should realize that they are challenged not only physically but also psychologically.
Conclusion
In general, training in extreme weather conditions has to be properly organized regarding athletes’ possibilities, time, and equipment. To succeed in the chosen kind of sport, it is not necessary to sacrifice personal health. It is more effective to think about an appropriate strategy and realize what kind of work is better in a particular situation. Athletes’ adaptation to hot weather is not a new topic. However, with time, people are able to introduce more effective and captivating strategies to overcome weather challenges, choose the necessary clothes, equipment, and time, and organize training activities in the best possible way.
Reference List
Guy, J.H., Deakin, G.B., Edwards, A.M., Miller, C.M., & Pyne, D.B. (2015). Adaptation to hot environmental conditions: An exploration of the performance basis, procedures and future directions to optimize opportunities for elite athletes. Sports Medicine, 45(3), 303-311.
Maughan, R.J., Shirreffs, S.M., Ozgunen, K.T., Kurdak, S.S., Ersoz, G., Binnet, M.S., & Dorak, J. (2010). Living, training and playing in the heat: Challenges to the football player and strategies for coping with environmental extremes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20(3), 117-124.