Overheating/over sweating during Karate - any ideas?

[NeilT]

hi all

I study Shotokan Karate and currently at brown belt.

Problem i'm having is that although I consider myself to be fairly fit, i'm getting very very hot during training, getting very red in the face and sweating buckets - I seem to be the only person in the class like this

I dont think is something new, as i've always got quite hot during rigourous excercise (squash, football etc), just starting to wonder whether this is normal?

Running a heart rate monitor gets to around 170bpm. I'm 35 and spot on the BMI.

Any ideas? Drinking more water before hand, excercising more? Eating differently?

cheers

Neil (also suffering a busted rib!)

UK

[Jacob]

I would take a small hand towel and have it close by so that you can wipe the sweat off from time to time. I sweat an incredible amount as well, but I'm not as self conscious about it when I'm working out. As long as others are not slipping and falling in your pools of sweat (sorry about the visuals you may be getting from that!).

[bushido_man96]

Sounds to me like you just work hard and sweat hard. I am a big sweater, too. It seems like I just have to start moving a little bit, and it starts pooring. I am no expert, though, this just what I think.

[lordtariel]

I'm the same way. You might want to consider the headband.

[Jiffy]

Your intensity is a little high, but sweating and heat are normal. Perhaps just back it off a little or speak to your doctor.

You should be working at about 60-80% of your maximum heart rate. Anything over this is actually counter productive.

Here a simple figure to work it out....

220 - 35 (your age) = 185 (your maximum bpm)

Ideal workout = 111 to 148 bpm

Here's a rough test you can do while you're training.

The talk test:

If you can talk fluently, you are not working hard enough.

If you cannot say two words between breaths, you are working too hard.

If you can speak broken sentences, it's about right.

[Jadnek]

I sweat a lot too (and I'm a female)!! I wear a bandana in the summer months to keep sweat from getting in my eyes and it really helps overall. Drink lots of water.......they say 8 cups a day, but you are supposed to drink even more than that if you are overweight or work out or sweat hard. I've also heard half your body weight in ounces......for instance.....if you weigh 200lbs, it would be 100 ounces of water per day.

The fact that you have broken ribs can't be helping matters much....are you sure the Dr. is okay with you working that hard with those ribs as they are?

[NeilT]

thanks for the replies folks......good to see there are others like me who can turn a dry sports hall into a swimming pool within 90 minutes!

Will look at investing in a Mr Miyagi style headband

Neil

[TigerDude]

[Aodhan]

Also, it sounds counter intuitive, but I sweat buckets as well, and I've found an underarmour type shirt that wicks it away from the skin helps keep me cooler.

I generally lose 2-5 lbs during a typical workout from sweating and fluid loss.

Aodhan