since the majority of ultra-events is held in summer (or on the southern hemisphere during northern hemisphere winter), we all have to deal with heat. How do you train for this heat? I am looking for budget-friendly and on the go-methods, since most of us probably cannot train the entire year in Spain and adapt to the heat from March onwards. Also, I know drinks with electrolyte is important. I am more interested in the real feeling in heat and the discomfort that comes with it.
My idea was to train without fan on an indoorbike, by building up the duration and intensity over weeks. Another suggestion I thought was to put the indoorbike in the bathroom and let the shower create additional heat and a sluggish atmosphere. After the shower, you go for a ride.
I also found a heat suit but I don’t know if its really worth it. Let alone the comfort of this suit whilst sitting on a bike.
Talk to @pav about this as I know he did a huge study on it. It isn’t easy, but you can simulate heat easier than altitude. I think it involves training in a heated environment., but Pav is the man to answer that!
Happy to chat about this Thom! It is mainly building up a short tempo session twice per week inside (they key is the inside temp needs to be high 30’s). The session itself is easy, but made harder by the heat. We can add that into your training though.
I recently got a “Core” sensor that clips onto your chest hr monitor strap and measures skin and core temperature. Been doing some heat conditioning sessions like Pav has said (but low z2 - actually based on hr rather than power) by heating the room up & no fans on.
The impact of the heat is just incredible / terrifying. To give some data:
At 112bpm I am churning out 180-190W
As the core temp increases above 38 deg, the power at that same hr is dropping. By the end of the 60’ session I’m sub 100W.
It’s a right sweaty mess is what it is - not sure I’d say it was “cool”
As you can see from those stats the increase has a significant detrimental impact on performance. You can stimulate the bodies “super compensation” response just with exposure to heat. If I maintained power rather than hr it would be a much harder session, unnecessarily increase the training stress and likely reduce the quality of the quality sessions in the following days.
Remember most cyclists ride their easy rides too hard and their hard riders too easy!!!
