Tips for Exercising in the Heat

Stay safe and stay cool

Most of us can't wait until it's warm enough to take our workouts outside, but exercising in the heat after a long winter can be tough on the body. When temperatures rise and the humidity soars, we run the risk of:
- Dehydration, which can lead to fatigue, dizziness and muscle cramps
- Fainting - If you're not used to exercising in the heat, you may experience a drop in blood pressure that can lead to fainting
- Heat exhaustion or heat stroke
- Sunburn
- Heat rash

You may be excited to get out, but your body needs time to adapt to exercising in hot and humid environment. Use these tips for exercising in the heat.

1. Stay Hydrated
The most important part of exercising safely in the heat is to stay hydrated. When you're dehydrated, you not only risk fatigue and poor performance, you also risk more serious problems like heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

General Guidelines
- Drink about 2 glasses of water 2 hours before your workout.
- Sip water throughout your workout, about 8 ounces every 15 minutes. Carry a hydration pack for convenience
- Consider a sports drink if you're exercising for more than an hour or you're working out in extreme heat
- Continue to drink water after your workout to replace any fluids lost
- If you're exercising for a long period of time, weigh yourself before and after your workout and drink 2 cups of water for every pound of fluid you've lost.

2. Wear Sweat Wicking Clothes
What you wear when you exercise in the heat can make or break your workout, especially if you're out for a long walk, run or bike ride. The keys to staying comfortable, cool and safe include wearing:
- Lightweight, comfortable clothes - Check for any seams, tags or other things that could lead to chafing or a rash
- Sweat wicking fabrics - Cotton absorbs sweat, making clothes heavy and uncomfortable.
- Breathable fabrics help sweat evaporate, keeping you cooler and drier
- Clothes that are light in color - Light colors reflect some of the sun's energy away from you, keeping you cooler
- A hat to protect your head and shield your eyes and face from the sun

Don't forget to choose performance socks as well to keep your feet cool and dry.

3. Ease Into Summer Exercise
What we sometimes forget in our first summer workout is that exercising in the heat is harder on the body than exercising indoors. You may find that your heart rate is much higher during hot weather as your body sends more blood to the skin to cool you off. For that reason, it won't take long to get to a high intensity, which may leave you drained and exhausted.

Give your body time to adapt to the heat by:
- Starting slow - Allow for extra warm up time to get a feel for the heat and adjust your intensity
- Shortening your workouts - It's better to leave your workout with extra energy than to spend days recovering from heat exhaustion
- Listening to your body - if you feel dizzy or faint, stop, get into a cool environment and drink fluids

4. Exercise in the Morning
Midday is the hottest time of the day for exercise, which puts you at risk for dehydration, heat illnesses and just plain bad workouts. Consider working out in the morning before things heat up. There are other great reasons to exercise in the morning:
- It's easier to stick to your exercise program
- You get your workout in before the day gets out of control
- You'll have more energy for the rest of the day
- You get your metabolism going, which can help with weight loss

You can also consider splitting your workouts, doing part of it in the morning and part of it at night when the weather is cooler. You get the same benefits as continuous workouts and another way to beat the heat.

5. Protect Yourself with Sunglasses and Sunscreen
Most of us wear sunscreen when we're at the beach or pool, but how many of us head out for a run and remember the sunscreen?

When you prepare for your workout, put your sunscreen nearby so you don't forget it and put it on at least 30 minutes before your workout. Look for sunscreens that:
- Offer protection of at least SPF 15
- Provide protection from UVA rays
- Are sweat and/or water-resistant

Learn more about the best sunscreens for exercise.

Don't forget, a good pair of sunglasses will protect your eyes from UV rays and make it easier to see where you're going. Look for Lightweight, durable frames and a comfortable, no-slip fit.

6. Stay Cool
Stay cool on the hottest days with these tips:
- Put your water bottle in the freezer overnight for an ice-cold treat during your workout
- Try the EverCool Bandanda - soak it in water and wrap it around your neck to stay cool
- Wear your swimsuit and plan your walking or running route so that you pass by your local pool. Swimming is great cross-training and you get to cool off
- Try water workouts - Use an aqua belt to keep you afloat as you run laps
- Exercise indoors - When it's too hot to exercise, this is a great time to try exercise videos, fitness classes at the gym or boredom buster cardio machine workouts.

Picture of the Week

An Air Force presidential aircraft, part of the fleet used by U.S. presidents, is pictured above the Statue of Liberty in New York, in this photograph released to Reuters on May 8, 2009. White House military aide Louis Caldera, who authorized an Air Force flyover of New York that caused panic among some New Yorkers there, resigned.

REUTERS/The White House/Handout

To Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

This Was It

Picture of the Week

This is the view from an insane North Pole Marathon. Held annually, runners are expected to trudge 26.2 miles (42.1 kilometers) in sub-zero temperatures. Complete and utter lunacy.

Take A Vacation

Take that vacation — it could help your career. Down time helps workers recharge, and smart bosses understand.

Alexa Hamill, who works in human resources for the Philadelphia office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, got a voice mail last May from a partner at her firm advising her to put in for vacation time. The summer was quickly approaching and Hamill had yet to schedule some time off.

She informed the partner that she’d figure it out, but she never did.

In June, the manager paid a visit to her office.

“He asked me to lay out my calendar going forward,” she says.

Even though the summer is the busiest time for her department, the two hashed out a compromise. She would take one of the slower weeks off but call in for a midweek meeting while on vacation.

Her getaway: a trip to the beach in nearby Ocean City, N.J., with her son. “I did relax and was able to recharge my batteries. It made me more effective at work.”

Few workers have a boss who would try that hard to make sure they got their earned vacation time, but what Hamill experienced is part of a small but growing trend in corporate America. Companies are beginning to realize the benefits of vacations for their weary workers — fewer sick days, smaller health care bills and a more motivated workforce.

Unfortunately, not all employers get this, and sometimes it’s the workers themselves that don’t get this, either. They have a perverted view that not taking time off and keeping their nose to the grindstone will advance their career, or keep their jobs from ending up on the chopping block.

But in fact, it could lead to burnout, emotional and physical illness, and end up jeopardizing their careers, their lives.

So take vacation, people!

“Taking a vacation is not a luxury — it’s a necessity,” says Kathleen Hall, founder of The Stress Institute in Atlanta. “If you don’t have the opportunity to relax and reflect you get stressed, and chronic stress is the driver of most diseases — heart disease, obesity, insomnia.”

Despite the repercussions, a growing number of Americans are tempting the stress gods by bypassing their time off even though they’ve earned it. A survey taken by the Conference Board last year before the summer season kicked into gear, found that only 39.8 percent of individuals planned to take a vacation within the next six months, a 28-year low.

A more recent study taken in April by recruiting firm Hudson, found that 56 percent of the work force does not take advantage of all their vacation time. And when they get away, 35 percent of managers check in with the office frequently, often daily; and 14 percent of non-managers do the same. One-quarter of the work force says their boss expects them to be accessible while on vacation.

“We’ve become a nation of workaholics,” says Jeff Pfeffer, Stanford University professor and the author of the forthcoming book "What They Were Thinking: Unconventional Wisdom about Management." “Part of it is a macho culture of ‘I can work more than you can. I don’t need sleep or rest.’ ”

Indeed, the United States is one of the only industrialized nations that does not require employers to provide their workers with vacation or sick time.

Ask yourself, he says, why pro football players play when they’re hurt, even though evidence shows it can shorten their careers. “It’s all this think-tough attitude. That you’re more loyal or dedicated if you forgo vacation.”

“Given how screwed up the American workplace is today, giving up your earned time might get you kudos from some managers," he acknowledges. But it won’t help workers in the long run, he adds.

If your productivity declines, you won’t get raises or promotions, and you could end up losing your job. This becomes even more critical when your job involves creative or critical thought, experts says.

A good rest may even bring career advancement.

“Your vacation just might be the key to identifying the new product or strategy you’ve been struggling with for months,” says Noah Blumenthal, a consultant and author of "You’re Addicted to You: Why It’s So Hard to Change and What You Can Do About It."

For those who do pack their bags, a long weekend won’t really cut it.

"It is important for people to take their vacations — meaning vacations of a week or two long. Taking a day or two doesn't do as much good," explains Wallace Huffman, economics professor at Iowa State University. "Productivity could increase by up to 60 percent for employees in the month or two following a good vacation."

And that doesn’t mean taking along a suitcase full of electronic gadgets that keep you connected to the office or plant. You have to disconnect in order to unwind. Minimize the use of cell phones, laptops and PDAs if you want all the benefits of relaxation, Huffman adds.

“In order to have a successful long-term career, you need to manage your career, plan to take time off regularly to allow your body to regenerate so not to suffer from burnout, exhaustion, depression,” he advises. “This becomes even more important as people live longer.”

Workplace legal expert Robin Bond offered these vacation tips:

Inform others in advance. Let co-workers and clients know of your vacation time as soon as you plan it, and send a reminder of your absence as the dates approach. Advise clients whom they can contact when you are away.
Have a buddy system in place. Get projects to a good stopping place before you leave, and ask a trusted colleague to serve as a backup in case any urgent problems arise in your absence. Be sure to return the favor.
Schedule around busy business cycles.
And relax!

We need to start thinking as a nation that leisure time is why we all work in the first place. No?

Maybe you’re one of those poor souls who don’t even get time off. Pfeffer’s advice if you are in this position, or if you are pressured not to take allotted time: “Find another job.” Don’t hang around waiting for your employer to become enlightened about the benefits of time off, he stresses.

If you get tons of time off at your job and are still not taking it, you may have self-esteem issues, he suspects. Some workers believe that their company will fall apart if they’re not there, and managers can play into that. The bottom line, Pfeffer says, is that it’s all just an “ego trip.”

“You have to say to yourself, ‘I can go away for a week or two, and everything will be fine.’ ”

Top 10 Michael Jackson Songs

The Biggest Hits Of Michael Jackson Career

Michael Jackson has hit the top of the pop singles chart with 13 different singles as a solo artist. These are the 10 biggest of those hits. He easily ranks as one of the most successful and innovative pop artists of all time. All 10 of these songs are essential to any comprehensive pop music collection.

1. "Billie Jean" - 1983
If any single song signaled that Michael Jackson's legacy as one of the top pop artists of all time would be secure, it was "Billie Jean." The song remains a pop milestone and masterpiece. It was written by Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones. Inspired by a real life experience in which Jackson was accused of fathering a baby of one of his fans, the slight sense of paranoia, instantly memorable bass line, and Michale Jackson's trademark vocal yelps and hiccups combined to make "Billie Jean," the second single from Thriller, a keystone in Michael Jackson's career. It spent seven weeks at the top of the pop singles chart in 1983.

2. "Black Or White" - 1991
It had been four years since the album Bad generated five consecutive #1 singles and some in the music industry wondered if Michael Jackson would maintain his commercial clout when Dangerous was released in 1991. All of those questions were soon answered as the lead single "Black Or White" became the second biggest hit single of Michael Jackson's career staying at #1 or seven weeks. All stops were out on celebrity participation with Guns 'n Roses' Slash contributing a guitar solo and Home Alone's Macaulay Culkin starring in the accompanying video. The song itself is a powerful plea for racial unity.

3. "Say Say Say" with Paul McCartney - 1983
The first time Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney teamed up on "The Girl Is Mine" in 1982 it was a smash success hitting #2 on the pop singles chart. The pair went back to the studio with Beatles producer George Martin for "Say Say Say" and the result was an even bigger hit staying at #1 for six weeks.

4. "Rock With You" - 1979
Following the uptempo smash "Don' Stop 'Till You Get Enough" that introduced the album Off the Wall, Michael Jackson proved he was adept with a laidback, soulful tune as well. Rod Temperton wrote "Rock With You," and it was part of the last gasp of the disco era.

5. "Beat It!" - 1983
The album Thriller, was already a smash hit, and "Billie Jean" was an acknowledged classic. Then the third single from the album, "Beat It!," tore down any remaining walls for Michael Jackson as a recording artist. Featuring a blistering guitar solo from rocker Eddie Van Halen and accompanied by a video that tore down barriers for black recording artists at MTV, "Beat It!" was an instant hit.

6. "Man In the Mirror" - 1988
Accompanied by a gospel choir, "Man In the Mirror" is known as one of Michael Jackson's most uplifting hit songs. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Released in January of 1988, the song was the fourth consecutive #1 hit from the album Bad.

7. "Bad" - 1987
The title song from Michael Jackson's Bad was the second consecutive #1 hit from the album. It was originally conceived as a duet with Prince. "Bad" was accompanied by an 18 minute short film as its music video. It only took the song six weeks to hit the top of the charts.

8. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" - 1979
Michael Jackson's group with his brothers, the Jackson 5, was one of the most successful family acts of all time. They first hit the pop charts in 1969 when Michael Jackson was 11. By 1979, Jackson was a young adult, and he had not released a major solo hit in seven years. He collaborated with Quincy Jones to blend disco and contemporary R&B with vocals featuring one of the most arresting falsetto voices in pop music. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" hit the top of the charts, and Michael Jackson's adult recording career had begun.

9. "You Are Not Alone" - 1995
Singer R. Kelly wrote this song in response to his own personal difficulties. When a demo reached Michael Jackson he decided to record "You Are Not Alone" as part of his greatest hits collection HIStory. Co-produced by Kelly, the song debuted at the top of the pop singles chart, the first hit to do so in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.

10. "The Way You Make Me Feel" - 1987
"The Way You Make Me Feel" was the third #1 hit from the album Bad. Reportedly, Michael Jackson recorded the song in response to a request from his mother Katherine to record a song with a shuffling rhythm. Michael Jackson performed the song live at the 1988 Grammy Awards.

Michael Jackson: The Death of Peter Pan

Right now we could all use a selective memory wipe — a magical eraser to remove all the misery Michael Jackson endured and caused. Just for a minute, we'd like to have pure recollections of the thrilling dancer and singer who dominated '80s music, created the all-time best-selling album of new songs (Thriller) and seemed the very model of the cool dude with the sensitive soul. And we wouldn't mind feeling some uncomplicated warmth for the young Jacko who, as the Cupid and Kewpie doll of the Motown brother act the Jackson Five, displayed the charisma that marked him for future and, we thought, perpetual stardom. Why can't a pop icon's life and legacy be as easy as ABC?

On the evening of his death from cardiac arrest, fans by the thousands convened at impromptu memorial sites. Unable to commemorate his passing at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — it was covered by a red carpet outside the Chinese Theatre, where a Bruno premiere was to take place — the pop phenom's admirers placed notes and flowers further down Hollywood Boulevard on the star of a much less famous radio host who happened also to be named Michael Jackson. Newscasters mostly observed the rule of decorum in such matters: speak only good of the dead. As Josh Tyrangiel noted in his TIME.com obit, there was much good, much brilliance, to speak of. Hail to the King of Pop; rest in peace.

And yet, as Tyrangiel also pointed out, Jackson's memory is complicated, compromised, tainted. In some ways his decline was familiar: the star attraction whose star fades. Once the richest of pop idols, he flirted with bankruptcy in the past decade, selling many of his assets to Sony to wipe out huge debts. For years his main income came not from his own music but from royalties from much of the Beatles' catalog, which he owned. (He may have relinquished some of these rights in a financing deal with Sony; details were not made public.) Jackson was also forced to sell his Neverland ranch outside Santa Barbara, Calif., and auction off many of its treasures. Some antics, like dangling his infant son Prince from a balcony, tested the limits of what an eccentric celebrity could get away with.

Other aspects of Jackson's fall come close to being unique. For the past two decades, he has been famous for being infamous: the sad, self-mutilating creature who may have acted on impulses he thought were paternal but were in fact predatory. Accused twice of child molestation — the first time, in 1994, he escaped trial by paying his accuser $22 million; he was acquitted in 2005 of a second charge — Jackson acknowledged the evidence was damning enough even to a public that demands little but that their stars offer a semblance of recognizable humanity.

Soon after his career went stratospheric, Jackson went extraterrestrial. With the aid of plastic surgeons who should have known better, he almost literally defaced himself. For some imaginary Madame Tussaud's, he transformed himself into his own waxed figure, a modern Phantom of the Opera in pallor and disfigurement. A pop star has problems when his fans can't bear to look at him.

Jackson's life was never, ever normal. For a celebrity of his magnitude, to be seen is to be smothered, to be a star is to be a freak, to be loved is to be abused. A poignant and appalling case history that could have come straight out of Krafft-Ebing, Jackson's childhood was marred by mistreatment. In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, he recalled his youth, when his father Joseph was making millions off his sons' popularity. Jackson said that in puberty — "very sad, sad years for me" — his father routinely called him ugly, "and I would cry every day." When Winfrey asked, Did your father ever beat you? Jackson tried to smile as he said yes. Then, in an aside to his father, he added, "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me." With that wincing smile, Jackson was like a wounded orphan who has walked through fire and has booked a return trip.

In 1993, Michael's sister LaToya, who is perhaps not the most reliable of witnesses, claimed that their mother Katherine had called Michael a "damn f----t." How strong is the bond, the bondage, of victim to victimizer? Strong enough that one never breaks free. Jackson dedicated his album Dangerous to "My dearest parents, Katherine and Joseph Jackson."

Michael's speaking and singing voice never matured; neither, it appears, did he. When Winfrey asked Jackson if he was a virgin, he smiled and said he was "a gentleman. You can call me old-fashioned, if you want." Old-fashioned? Archaic. Identifying with the don't-want-to-grow-up Peter Pan — a role he hoped to play in a Steven Spielberg film version of the James M. Barrie play — he called his ranch Neverland, populated it with an exotic menagerie and surrounded himself with young boys. They were meant to be supporting players in an improved, redeemed fantasy version of his own damaged childhood.

Yet Jackson's profound weirdness — not just the glove or the seaweed hair striping his face but the blanched skin, the pained eyes, the tremulous soul — hinted that Peter Pan was the wrong role for him. Wasn't Jackson really one of Peter's Lost Boys, stranded between childhood and adolescence, loved by the public yet feeling caged and abandoned, and searching, groping for the Edenic innocence he believed was any child's birthright? Or, to pick an image from another Disney cartoon classic, Neverland could also be Pinocchio's Pleasure Island, where careless lads were transformed into slaves and donkeys. And this pop-star Pan could instead be the Pied Piper, the musician who lured children into a cave as their parents gasped in fright.

"I love being around them," Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk. "There always seem to be a bunch of kids over at the house, and they're always welcome. They energize me — just being around them." When he welcomed handicapped kids to the ranch, he felt he was their equal, and they were friends he could play with, or sing to — or, he must have thought, love, in the purest sense of the word. The litany of alleged misbehavior in the 2005 trial — making prank phone calls, sneaking drinks, scanning porn sites, even a lesson in masturbation — is not unfamiliar among preteens. If Jackson committed these acts, it was not predator-to-prey but peer-to-peer. Having forgiven the father who abused him, could he not forgive himself for bonding with the children who came into his Neverland bed? Could this Lost Boy even understand the difference between hugging and fondling, affection and assault, generosity and lechery?

He told Winfrey that what he most regretted not having as a kid was "slumber parties." That's what he arranged for his young guests, who were often wounded souls themselves. The boy who brought the complaint against Jackson that went to trial met him after undergoing chemotherapy treatments for leukemia as a 10-year-old. Perhaps we should forget Peter Pan for the moment, and remember that Jackson told Winfrey of his kinship with another outsider, John Merrick, that sweet-souled, tragically deformed creature known as the Elephant Man. "I love the story," he said. "It reminds me of me a lot ... It made me cry because I saw myself in the story."

Even when the charges of child abuse were new and shocking — when British gossip rags were dubbing him Wacko Jacko and Sicko Jacko — there was some sympathy for this sad creature. The public, after all, had more invested in him than they did in the boys he was accused of molesting. And now, in his early and sudden death, his mourners can see him as more sinned against than sinning. They might have used that magical memory wipe on themselves.

But as the first grieving fades, and all those people Jackson's lawyers paid to keep quiet get other people to pay for their stories, the tabloid tattling will return. The noise should be as instructive as it is ugly. It will force Michael Jackson's fans and foes to ask: Why must our stars fall so spectacularly and fail us so egregiously? Perhaps it's because we want them to. Indeed, it may be the primary function of celebrities like Jackson to show us, in their early radiance, what we could dream of being — and in the murk of their decline, what we fear we could become.

Goodbye Michael

«I've been in the entertainment industry since I was six-years-old... As Charles Dickens says, "It's been the best of times, the worst of times." But I would not change my career... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me».
—Michael Jackson

Where to Go this Summer