ACSM Position Statement: Heat Illness During Training

Exertional Heat Illness
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Exertional heat illness affects athletes during periods of a prolonged period of physical exercise and leads to athlete withdrawing from the training or collapsing after or during the activity. The effects result from exercise-related reasons such as exertional heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and muscle cramping. Some people are more prone to EHS, but it can also affect healthy participants. Usually withdrawal or collapsing results from heat stress and fatigue. EHS can be hazardous hence it needs to control through application strategies.
The findings of this article reveal that there are complex challenges that face athletes exercising during hot environments since athletes are differently affected by high-intensity exercise, especially in hot-humid climates. EHS is a condition that results when an athlete collapses during or immediately after a workout and can be resolved using symptomatic care and support by oral fluids. Additionally, exercising in hot and humid environments also results in muscle cramping in athletes. If not detected and controlled, EHS leads to morbidity and mortality in affected athletes. As a result, early recognition of the condition is essential as it can help reduce the mortality and morbidity of EHS. As Armstrong et al. (2007) cite, although they might appear to be similar EHS and severe temperatures the two differ in that EHS results from on-site evaluation which is not the case with harsh temperatures.

However, both are differentiated by rectal temperatures. Heat illnesses are prevalent across the world and all forms of exercise and athletics. Although most common in hot and humid conditions, at times EHS occurs min cool conditions when an athlete takes part in the prolonged physical exercise. According to Galoway and Maughan (1997), different factors influence an athlete’s exhaustion levels such as the duration of activity and the exercise’s intensity, environmental conditions, physical conditions, and the person’s dehydration status.References
Armstrong, L., Casa, D., Moran, D., Pyne, S., & Roberts, W. (2007). Exertional Heat Illness during Training and Competition. Medicine and Science Sports and Exercise, 39(3)
Galloway, S., & Maughan, R. J. (1997). Effects of Ambient Temperatures on the capacity to perform prolonged cycle exercise in man. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, 29(9)