As the temperature rises and the sun’s rays get more intense, many people may be finding it difficult to maintain their normal fitness routine. While some might be looking for ways to work out without overheating, others may find that high temperatures decrease their motivation and leave them wanting to do absolutely nothing some days.

But it isn’t impossible to stay fit and active during a hot summer. In fact, while you’ll probably need to make some adjustments, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your physical health at all in order to avoid negative effects from the heat.

Keep It Inside

An easy way to stay active and avoid overheating is to avoid working out outside. You might be used to playing sports or going for a run around the block, but sometimes high temperatures can make these activities dangerous instead of healthy, so consider opting for indoor activities instead.

Luckily there are plenty of tools, equipment, and accessories you can purchase to turn part of your home into a personal gym. Treadmills, resistance bands, weights, and pretty much any exercise equipment you’d normally find in an actual gym can be brought into your own living space to be set up and used whenever you want. You can purchase these items from all over the internet and have them delivered right to your door to get your gym set up quickly and easily. Search for some home gym deals and get started working out at home.

Of course, if you don’t have the room or money for home workout equipment, you can also consider joining a public gym. These spaces will usually have all the equipment you would use at home but it allows you a separate space to exercise rather than cluttering your own house. If you want you could even get a personal trainer to help with your workout routine and overall fitness.

Another way to be active inside that doesn’t require all the equipment is yoga. Usually, all you need is a mat and plenty of space. Yoga may not seem like an equivalent to the fast-paced workouts at the gym, but it can actually be a great workout and be very beneficial to your health. You can look up some guided yoga or tutorials online and start with beginner poses to practice your balance and engage your core before moving on to more advanced moves.

Water Works

A classic way to cool down is with the use of water, both consuming enough of it as well as using it to cool the outside of our bodies. So water can also be used to help stay cool when keeping active on a very hot day.

A beneficial and also fun way to beat the heat while working out at the same time is swimming. You can utilize your own pool if you have one, a pool at a friend or family member’s house, a public pool, or a gym that has an exercise pool for public use. As long as it’s a good size, it can do the trick. Swimming is great exercise as it engages your entire body and the water provides natural resistance to help build strength.

Instead of swimming for your workout, you can also make use of a pool simply to cool off. If you exercise and end up hot and sweaty, a quick dip in a pool or even a cooling bath or shower can help you transition out of your hot summer workout.

It’s also important to drink plenty of water at any time when it’s hot out, but especially when doing any physical activity in the heat. When we get hot we sweat as the moisture on our skin helps us cool down. But we don’t have an unlimited supply of water in our bodies, so the more you work out and the more you sweat, the more dehydrated you can become. Drinking enough water doesn’t just help you stay cool, it helps keep you safe.

Overboard To Overheated

It’s good to strive for physical fitness and motivate yourself to work out each day, but when the summer heat gets particularly intense, you need to know when to put limits on yourself so you don’t get hurt. Listen to your body and what it needs and don’t be ashamed if you need to stop sooner than you’d like. Staying active is important, but staying safe is even more so.

If you know you’re going to be out in intense heat, with or without strenuous exercise, take some time to learn the warning signs of dehydration and heat stroke. While these conditions are fairly common and can normally be treated if caught early enough, they can also be severely damaging and even deadly in some cases. Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of these and any other heat-related conditions you’re concerned about so you can spot them in yourself and others before they become too serious.

You should also know some different ways to regulate your body temperature in the heat. Again, knows your body and what its limits are so you can tell when you’re becoming overheated. If you feel fatigued, out of breath, or you’re sweating more than usual, take a break and bring your temperature down. Turn on a fan and drink some water to cool yourself both inside and out. If you recover quickly you can get back to your activity as long as you’re careful. If it’s taking you a while or you start to feel ill or exhausted you should probably stop for the day and rest.

Staying active is extremely important to our overall physical health, and that doesn’t change when the weather gets hot. As long as you’re staying safe, taking breaks, monitoring your temperature, and drinking water, keep working out however works best for you.