Tag Archive for 'caldo'

Heat and performance: what coaches and athletes need to know

Published on July 1, 2025 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: caldo, calore.

Training or competing in the summer heat is more than just tough—it’s a real challenge for both body and mind. High temperatures can seriously affect athletic performance, and understanding these effects can make the difference between managing a session well and burning out too soon.

What Happens to the Body in the Heat

When it’s hot, the body sweats more to cool itself down. But with sweat, you lose water and essential minerals that muscles and the nervous system need to function. Without proper hydration, dehydration can lead to cramps, strength loss, slower reactions—and in extreme cases, heat stroke.

Your heart also works harder. More blood is sent to the skin to help cool the body, which means less blood is available for the working muscles. Even familiar workouts can feel more exhausting, and fatigue sets in faster.

What Happens to the Mind

Heat affects mental performance too. Athletes often report feeling more irritable, less focused, and mentally slower. Effort feels heavier than usual, which can hurt motivation and self-confidence—especially in competitive situations.

Stress management also becomes harder: staying calm, focused, and mentally sharp is more difficult when the brain is overheating and under pressure.

What You Can Do

To perform well in the heat, coaches and athletes should use clear, practical strategies:

Heat acclimatization: Gradually get used to training in the heat by starting with lighter sessions and increasing the load over time.
Stay hydrated: Drink before, during, and after training—don’t wait until you’re thirsty.
Cooling strategies: Use cold towels, ice baths, or cooling vests during breaks or after sessions.
Smart scheduling: Avoid the hottest hours of the day for intense training, if possible.
Mental training: Prepare athletes to handle heat-related discomfort with breathing techniques, focus drills, and positive self-talk.

In Summary

Heat is a challenge that needs to be managed, not ignored. Coaches and athletes must work together to recognize signs of fatigue and take action to prevent performance drops or health risks. With the right mindset, preparation, and strategies, it’s possible to keep training and performing—even under the sun.

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Do not forget to walk

Published on July 19, 2022 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: caldo, Camminare.

Despite the exceptionally hot weather these days, one should still not eliminate all forms of motor activity, especially the simplest and most common: walking. Certainly one should choose the early morning or evening hours. One can also start with a slower pace than usual, using as a criterion for evaluating effort, the possibility of being able to speak without perceiving a particular effort.

During this walk it is important to live with pleasure in the present moment, one step after another.

It may be helpful to exercise control over breathing by maintaining one’s habitual inhalation and trying to lengthen the expiratory phase by 3 to 4 seconds. In this way, the stride will continue to be coordinated and the walk will flow in a relaxed manner.

A 30-minute walk is more than enough to achieve benefits on the cardiovascular system and muscle tone and also on improving one’s moods.

Walking together with other people with whom to share this experience is certainly more enjoyable than walking alone. It also stimulates motivation especially in the initial stages of this motor activity and allows it to become a daily appointment not to be forgotten.

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Tokyo 2020: The Olympic games of extreme heat

Published on December 26, 2019 in Allenatori, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: caldo, E-Celsius, Tokyo 2020.

The hottest Olympics in history will take place in Tokyo 2020, from 22 July to 9 August, with a risk of over 90% and similar to that of desert areas, with conditions of thermal stress that cannot be compensated by the human body measured by an index called Wbgt (wetbulb globe temperature), with which the risks are also assessed for the army. At risk, it’s not only the quality of the performances but above all the health of the athletes. For road runners, the nightmare of the Doha World Cup will be repeated. But the same problem will also be faced by athletes in sports that are apparently less challenging from the motor point of view, such as precision sports (archery, shooting and golf) where the combination of humidity and heat will be devastating and will cause extreme stress for the body (just think of the difficulty of the heart rate, a decisive aspect in these performances) and for the mind, which will have to find solutions to these physiological reactions, absolutely unusual and healthy.

Many athletes are using a new device: E-Celsius. A capsule to swallow with a sophisticated thermometer of 17 millimeters and 1.7 grams of weight. Inside, one silver oxide battery powers a sensor, whose vibrations vary with every slightest change in the temperature of the intestine and are transmitted to an external pc. In this way, the vital parameters of the athletes will be constantly monitored and in the presence of significant changes the athletes will be stopped.

The governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike said that “it is as if Tokyo was immersed in a permanent sauna, every day”. Concern also for the public, “certainly not trained like the athletes.” For this reason some interventions have already been planned: on more than 100 kilometers of roads will be sprayed with a product that repels heat and ultraviolet rays, to reduce the heat “of eight degrees Celsius,” said Koike. But it may not be enough. Tokyo’s 2020 president, Yoshiro Mori, has asked Prime Minister Abe to take a measure to optimize the hours of light and to take advantage of the early morning hours for outdoor sports.

In 1964, in the previous Games in Tokyo, to solve this problems it was decided to have the games play in October, but in 2020, the Olympic games are driven by the laws of business and, therefore, the date change is not possible.

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