Arnold Schwarzenegger shared important tips regarding working out in the summer. In some parts of the world, summer is at its peak, which is demotivating many people from training due to the health consequences. But Schwarzenegger has a cool tip to make your workouts beneficial without health hazards.
In his latest newsletter edition, the bodybuilding icon emphasized a tip that can help prevent your body from overheating. “If you want to cool down and recover or boost your performance at higher temperatures, drinking cold water is a more effective way to cool off than pouring water on your body,” wrote Arnie. But that’s not all. There’s more.
The 76-year-old cautioned on how quickly cooling down when you’re overheated might not always be the best idea. When we feel overheated, it’s natural to want to cool off fast by putting a cold towel on our neck or pouring cold water on ourselves. However, he explained that these quick methods can sometimes confuse our body’s natural cooling system.
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Subsequently, our brain plays a big role in regulating our body temperature. It has receptors in the back of our neck that sense whether we’re hot or cold. When we put something cold on our neck, like a towel, it tricks these receptors into thinking we’re cooler than we actually are. As a result, our brain might turn off other ways our body cools down, which could actually make us stay hotter for longer. In addition, he emphasized two points that can help you cool down faster.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger advises sipping water slowly
Instead of quick, cold treatments, Arnie suggests two better ways to cool down effectively. Firstly, “drink Cold Water but not too fast.” He explained that drinking cold water helps cool us down, but drinking too much too quickly can confuse our bodies. Schwarzenegger recommended sipping cold water gradually rather than gulping it down. He even gave a formula to figure out how much water you should drink based on your body weight and the intensity of your activity.
He advised sticking to the Galpin Equation to figure out the amount of water one should consume. “Take your body weight in pounds, divide it by 30, and that is the ounces of water you should drink every 15 minutes of hard exercise. So if you’re 180 pounds, you’d want to drink approximately 6 ounces of water (180/30) every 15 minutes.,” Schwarzenegger explained.
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Another point he highlighted, “Run cool water on the palms of your hands or the soles of your feet.” He illustrated these areas have special blood vessels that release heat efficiently. The water doesn’t have to be ice-cold; cool water works just fine.
Schwarzenegger advised against quick fixes that might confuse our body’s natural cooling processes. Instead, he suggested sticking to more slower and deliberate methods like drinking water gradually and using cool water on specific parts of our body to help us cool down effectively and safely. Share your experience if you try these tips.