Do you think if "we" were fitter we'd suffer less in the heat?

[munemema]

There's been lots here about how difficult everyone is finding it.

I'm a typically fair Celt and used to be one of them.

But I got fit about a decade ago and haven't really suffered since. I wouldn't go for a run in the midday sun but can fairly happily carry on with my day/work whatever the weather, whereas before I would be miserable and nights were awful. Now I sleep fine when it's hot.

At work this week, in an old Victorian building with no aircon, people have been complaining that it's intolerable and it's certainly warm but I haven't found it particularly uncomfortable, whereas I've always thought of myself as someone who doesn't like the heat.

Or maybe I've learned to cope better as I've got older, although as I'm perimenopause, that seems unlikely.

I’m fat, it would be a lot easier in the hot weather if I wasn’t carrying the extra weight of a medium sized dog around my girth.

I’m the only one to blame.

I think some people are just bad in the heat. I’m not especially fit or slim and I love this weather.
DD is very fit and as skinny as a rake but she has never been able to cope in the heat even when tiny.

Well, I am stones overweight and walked into work. Tis a bit of a struggle though. Mind you |I was late out this morning and had to speed walk (in this heat!). Well...alright speed waddle. I had a carrier bag with books and bottles in and a back pack so was feeling rather overburdoned (placcy bag digging in to my hands!).

Anyway, you'll be glad to hear I got in on time, sweaty but punctual!

My BMI is about 22-23 just now but I’m very unfit due to a chronic health condition, I do try and walk the dog every day though.

I’m in Scotland so we’re not getting it anywhere near as hot but I love it, I suffer from cold sensitivity and am usually in about 4 layers of clothes, I get so cold my muscles tense up and become all painful. Last night I slept without a duvet can’t remember the last time that happened!

I’m reasonably fit, my husband is super fit and we’re both struggling on holiday here in the south of France (39 degrees). It’s a fairly strenuous holiday which doesn’t help, but I think some people are just not great with hot weather.

Heading to the alps soon where it’s hopefully going to be nearer 16c - bliss!

It was a typo. I meant fit shaming.

I think some people just cope better with heat - with the caveat that carrying extra weight does make things harder too. The thought of carrying a backpack with the weight I’ve lost so far in it does not appeal.

Am horribly unfit, but am coping no problem. Lots of water is probably helping. Teenager - half the size of me - is whinging continually, standing under the hose and mooning about like the world will end. Different strokes for different folks 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've always hated hot weather from being a child and a 'fit' teenager.
I'm doing more exercise now than I've done my whole adult life although I'm at my heaviest weight in my whole adult life. I still loathe hot weather to the point where I really don't want to go on another sunny holiday.

I’m extremely fit (hour long HIIT classes 4 x weekly), have a low BMI and grew up in a very hot subtropical climate so had 27 odd years of experience with this type of weather.

Despite that, this heat is absolutely flooring me and I’m definitely not as cognitively sharp at work. The problem is that the heat is all pervasive and you can’t escape the way you can in a city that is built for regular 30s temps. I spent chunks of my school holidays in air conditioned shopping centres as a child & we would sleep on the floor in my parent’s room (the only air conditioned room) to escape.

People in hot climates don’t actually attempt to continue life as normal when it’s this hot.

I agree with you. I do much better in the heat now I'm in better shape!

Perhaps you're just happier these days? High temperatures cause physiological arousal which can be perceived as increased anxiety, especially if you already feel stressed out or have low mood. Whereas if you are happier it makes you more resilient to the psychological effects of environmental stressors.

I'm very much not fit and too fat at the moment but I'm not too bothered by the heat (I am Australian though)

I was always fit when younger, can't recall having problems in the heat although I've always gone tomato-red when very hot. Wouldn't have run a marathon in it but quite happy to exercise early sensibly. Then I had children, stopped exercising (no idea why - time, lack of opportunity?) developed an under active thyroid and really struggled in the heat.

Since I've got back into fitness and exercise I've noticed I cope better in cold or hot weather. But is that a mental thing rather than physical? I'm used to a certain amount of discomfort now, pushing my body to do more.

I adapt to heat after a few days.

Thing is it never lasts that long where I live.

I adapted in Australia!

I wore big sunglasses over there whenever I was outside but my eyes also adapted and I found my first summer back in the UK was the only one where I didn't suffer sore or weepy eyes in strong sun.

I definitely adapt to heat.

But (unless really elite) everyone's times in running events get longer when it's hotter (and running textbooks will document how much to expect)

I ran a Half on a scorchingly hot days could of weeks ago, and was just dripping with sweat and it felt an awful effort. But I was fit enough to do it. I sweets very efficiently now, and will be absolutely pouring when too hot. Even though it is fresh sweat (so not hugely odorous) people really don't like it in general - other people's bodily fluids and smells are not popular in enclosed places. So that is what people want aircon, and find the idea of the habituated smell tolerance of the Middle Ages to be repulsive

BMI in healthy range, and run / martial arts but I swell in this heat and my inner thighs get bigger and slap each other as I walk, my rings get too tight, and my rosacea burns.

I prefer autumn and winter.

I've been very fit and slim in the past (size 6-8, doing crossfit, running half marathons, going for 8-10 mile runs several times a week alongside spinning and kettlebell sessions) and I still suffered in summer and just waited for Autumn to arrive. I'm fatter and more unfit now (size 12, had baby DS 6 months ago after a crap pregnancy when I was virtually put on bed rest and only just getting back up to speed with exercising now) and I'm struggling with it, but not any more than I used to when I was super fit. I just bloody hate the heat unless all I've got to do is chill out and dip in and out of a pool occasionally on holiday. I think if you're significantly unfit or overweight then yes, it'll obviously have an impact, but for the regularly slightly unfit folk I think you can just be someone who doesn't deal with the heat very well.

I've lost 3 stone and definetly cope with the heat better at a healthy bmi. I'm not fit though.

I was about to start a post about this being my first summer as a fat person and how difficult I'm finding it!

I'm really with you OP, I'll be shedding my post baby weight ASAP, couldn't stand another heat wave like this, the sweating is unbearable.

Yes in my case I’m feeling the effects, I’m two stone heavier than I was two years ago and it’s not pleasant.

I’m fine in this weather. I am not completely fit as I’m still recovering from an illness (lungs) but I’m not fat and I rarely sweat.

I'm fit and I love the heat. But I don't think it's correlated as I have had a period of being overweight and unfit and I still loved the heat. I'm not a sweaty person at all and wasn't even when overweight. I can't cope with the cold at all though and would happily hibernate from the end of September till the start of May every year, and I do my best to never leave the house if it's raining.

What I do really struggle with is humidity. It seems to wipe me out. Even if we go to a butterfly house at a zoo I come out of it dripping sweat and exhausted and sporting a 70s style afro hairdo.

My daughter is much like me, doesn't mind the heat at all although she does seem a bit more tired than usual by the end of the day. Husband is the opposite and can't bear the heat but would thrive living in an igloo.