How Did You Get So COOL?

It is hot out there. Looks like this heat wave is going to be with us for awhile. So here are some tips on how to ride out this heat wave! 

STAY HYDRATED!!!

When you wake up in the morning drink 20-30 oz of water. A reduction of 2% of water in the body significantly decreases performance and a lost of 5% of body water can impair your performance by 30%! Staying Hydrated means the body does not have to work as hard to stay cool and you can still focus and perform your best! 

Avoid caffeine, alcohol and high protein foods. Coffee and other drinks containing caffeine give us energy and make us feel great (who doesn't love and iced frappuccino) but caffeine dehydrates us! Alcohol and high protein foods take more energy from the body to break down. Because of this alcohol and protein metabolism actually heats up the body thus making the body work harder to cool down & dehydrates us at the same time. 

Help the body cool down! My favorite way to cool down the body after a long hot day is to do a contrast shower. A contrast shower is an amazing recovery tool to cool the body as well as help it to relax and shift into recovery mode. How to do a contrast shower. Spend 5 minutes in the shower. 30 seconds of the hottest water you can tolerate, then switch to 30 seconds of the coldest water possible. Repeat this 5 times and make sure to end on cold. Try this out and when you get out of the shower you will feel refreshed and rejuvenated! 

Those are my 3 really easy to implement tips on how to keep cool during this heat wave. Try them out and let us know how they work for you!