Episode 24: How to Heat Train Effectively for Endurance Sports

Heat training is one of those topics that is a) poorly understood and b) deployed by coaches and athletes everywhere, which is…not a great combination. In this episode of The Infirmary, Chris walks you through the adaptations we are after when we heat train, the possible mechanism by which those adaptations occur, and then practical suggestions to apply these principles to your own training.

Most athletes think that they can simply go to their destination race and “acclimate if I get there 7-10 days early.” That approach will actually hurt your performance, not help it. By understanding evidence-based approaches to heat training, you’ll be able to adapt to the heat effectively and have the performance that you are training for. But you’re not alone! At the 2015 IAAF Track and Field World Championships, only 15% of the professional athletes there used any kind of heat preparation, so don’t feel bad if heat training feels confusing.

You can read the meta-analysis Chris distills in this episode here, and you can see the sample training program he explains in the image below.

Want to talk to Chris about your heat training plan? Book a free analysis here.