A Medical Doctor’s Warning On Fitness Regime Complications: Dehydration And Overstraining

Dehydration is a risk when exercising because many individuals do not consume enough fluids when they walk out to balance the loss from sweating. This can be avoided in the following ways:

1. Drink water before activity
2. Drink enough water after exercise and avoid beverages containing alcohol and caffeine
3. Do not take salt tablets, the can damage the stomach lining
4. There is no need to take potassium supplements.

Pay attention to your nutritional needs. Eat a healthy varied diet to meet your energy needs, vitamins and minerals.

Exercising In Hot Weather:

• When environmental temperature is less than 21^oC (70^oF), exercise is safe.
• With temperature of 21^oC to 24^oC (70^oF to 75^oF) exercise with caution.
• Between 24^oC to 35^oC (75^oF to 95^oF), exercise with great care.
• Above 35^oC (95^oF), do not exercise.

Danger of heat illness could affect anyone. Therefore morning and evening periods are ideal for exercise. Heat exhaustion occurs when a person cannot sweat enough to cool the body. It generally develops when a person is exercising in hot weather. Symptoms include fatigue, weakness, headache, dizziness or nausea and the skin may be cold. Moist, pale or flushed.

Physical activity is good for your health. If it is done suddently or without basic precautions, exercise can lead to injury or illness. Avoid by:

1. Increasing your activity gradually
2. Paying attention to your body signal
3. Using safety gear that is recommended for your chosen activity.

Take lessons where appropriate. Learn by watching and practicing with people who know this activity.

Improving your performance: Performance related fitness is concerned with issues like speed, power, balance, co-ordination, agility and reaction time. Health related fitness is a different concern.

Overstraining

Your zeal for excellence may sometimes push you to cross the line from enough to too much. Sometimes, coaches may not realize your personal limits and push you into a training schedule that is too intense. This can cause overstraining and it usually occurs when the body does not have enough time to recover from the stress of intense training.

Overstraining can be prevented by recognizing the body’s training limits and capacity, following guidelines for training schedules and sharing such schedules with a specialized coach or others who train at such a level. Remember, getting the best performance does not come from over-training. If overstrain is reached, it will only move you backwards and not forward.