Tips for Exercising in Summer Hazardous Conditions

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska and with summer comes forest fires.  The area has been dealing with temperatures in the mid to upper 80F range and dense smoke.  We had two forest fires going nearby, but they merged recently. Above is a photo that was posted on social media by the Bureau of Land Management - an aerial photo of the McDonald fire (before merging with the Clear fire). It goes without saying that when the sky is the yellow-grey color of forest fire smoke and the sun takes on a neon orange-red color, its a little hazardous outside. On top of the outdoor heat and the dense smoke, my apartment AC has not been working as it should. It's been like living in a hellscape.

We don't want to stop working out, so what do we do?

• Restrict your workouts to indoors only. Air handler units are designed to filter the air, so your gym should provide filtered clean air.

• Stay hydrated.

• If you feel ill or have a headache or feel dizzy, take care of yourself first.

• If it's cooler in the early mornings or late evenings, take advantage of it and workout during those times. This can help reduce additional stress on the body.

• Maintain a dietary schedule. Make sure you eat even if you're not super hungry. This can be due to the hazardous conditions (like high CO2 levels) messing with you. Eat lighter meals if you need to, but be sure to eat.

I have found that when it is forest fire season, which is definitely an annual thing in the interior of Alaska, that I don't want to cook a whole bunch and I don't want complex meals. I want water or iced tea (green and unsweetened, of course) and cold and/or simple food. I also experience an increase in allergies from the smoke and ash, headaches from the elevated CO2 levels, and sometimes feel a little sick to my stomach.

I normally get up at 3:35am for my first workout of the day, which is weightlifting. I do this because its cooler and I'm usually not agitated by the outside conditions. I hit the gym a second time after I get off work at 3pm for a solid hour of cardio. I can do cardio in the heat and it helps me deal with any agitation. It also helps that the air handling unit for the building my gym is at is functioning correctly.

Do forest fires mean I can't exercise outside?

No. You can. I just recommend that you be smart about it. Locally we have a huge bicycling community and they're out all the time, except for when the smoke settles in heavily. We also have the Fairbanks Goldpanners, a summer collegiate baseball team. We have a lot of outdoor youth and adult sports. We have a running club that operates year round. We just have limits set in place for what is acceptable weather to operate in and what is not.

When we get to early winter, I'll discuss some cold weather hazardous conditions.