Find out what happens to your body when you exercise in extreme heat

It’s no secret that the Coachella Valley can get extremely hot this time of year.
With record-breaking temperatures last week and triple-digit temperatures sticking around, we wanted to see how this heat can affect your body.

With the help of experts, Alexandra Pierce found out what it’s like to exercise out in the extreme heat. She did a 10-minute bike ride and walk, inside and outside. We want to mention these results can vary depending on someone’s age and health. Alicia Rios, cardiac rehabilitation coordinator at Desert Regional Medical Center, took Pierce’s vitals, hooked her up to a heart monitor.

“We monitor the electrical activity of your heart, and that’s your heart rate, your rhythm and also your blood pressure and your oxygen saturation and your temperature,” Rios said

At resting, her heart rate was 83 beats per minute and blood pressure was 112/75. Then Pierce hopped on a stationary bike inside.

“We are assessing my heart rate my vitals and kind of how I feel inside on the bike, and then we’re going to take it outside and see how things change once we get in the heat,” Pierce said.

Pierce said when she moved outside it was harder to breathe and she felt as if she was putting in more effort. After riding the bike outside for just 10 minutes, her heart rate jumped to 176 beats per minute, well above what it was while she was resting and exercising inside.

“You start sweating more because that’s one of the mechanisms the body has to cool itself, and you’re going to lose water and sodium and you become dehydrated and your blood pressure will be low, your heart rate will be fast and it could become lower and you could be dizzy, light headed,” Rios said.

Then we tested a little less strenuous exercise, a 10 minute walk. Inside walking at a moderate pace was no problem but after a 10-minute walk outside, Pierce’s body temperature jumped to 98.7 degrees, nearly 1 degree higher than when she had started. Her heart rate was almost as high as it had been on the bike. Rios said there’s some telltale signs to look out for when people are exercising in the heat.

“Light-headed, dizzy, if they become irritated, if they feel that they can’t think clearly, see clearly, those are all symptoms of overheating,” Rios said.

The bottom line, Rios said, is that it’s safer to save outside exercise for when it’s cooler or if you absolutely must do it, do it in the early morning or late at night.
Rios said when you’re rehydrating you don’t want to just grab a bottle of water and chug.
You should drink it gradually only having 8 ounces every 15 minutes.