Heat management

[poopgiggle]

At the OK State IDPA match last Saturday I think I shot pretty well, and pretty consistently before lunch.

However, the last 3 stages were a complete and utter shitshow. The heat finally got to me and I got zonked out. A bajillion points down, 2 really dumb procedurals, and on and on.

The match staff were great about making free Gatorade and bottled water available, so I only have myself to blame really.

 

[Chris_Andersen]

Matches in the heat we are having actually start at least a day before you even start shooting. Hydrate all day the day before, and more than you think you need to during the match to stay ahead of things.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

In real life I do safety consulting for utilites...

Those sports drinks are ok for replacing electrolytes during heavy work. The issue is they are amost too "thick" to absorb into the system. Cut them in half with water. The body needs plain old water to circulate the minerals, sugars and salts.

hydration... my "expert" tells me a lot can go wrong when people underestimate this. If you feel "thirsty" your already indicating mild de hydration in a clinical sense. Drink before you get the urge to. Once your behind the curve, it may take hours to catch up.

if you early urine is dark or cloudy and has a strong odor ... good sign that your suffering some de hydration from the day before.The body will steal moisture for cooling. All body functions will suffer from a lack of water.

Watch the diuretics... coffee, tea, sugary drinks and alcohol will all produce a net loss in retained water in the body. Drink em if you like- but make sure you take an equal amount of water to make up what the diuretics carry out.

 

[poopgiggle]

Watch the diuretics... coffee, tea, sugary drinks and alcohol will all produce a net loss in retained water in the body. Drink em if you like- but make sure you take an equal amount of water to make up what the diuretics carry out.

Yeah this started right after I had a Mountain Dew. Afterwards I realized it was a bad move. I had been hitting the water & Gatorade pretty hard all morning.

 

[Bob Sanders]

As an aside, be sure to keep an eye out for the super seniors. Some of them will insist on continuing to reset and paste, when they need to be in the shade drinking water. God love them for coming out, but I'll gladly pick up their slack pasting.

 

[benjamin-benjamin]

chia seeds work VERY WELL for hydration, since it is one of the only ways (that i know of) to "slow release" water into your system, keeping you hydrated throughout the day..

 

[foghorn918]

chia seeds work VERY WELL for hydration, since it is one of the only ways (that i know of) to "slow release" water into your system, keeping you hydrated throughout the day..

Do you pick them from your chia pet?

 

[Scott Hearn]

In real life I do safety consulting for utilites...

Those sports drinks are ok for replacing electrolytes during heavy work. The issue is they are amost too "thick" to absorb into the system. Cut them in half with water. The body needs plain old water to circulate the minerals, sugars and salts.

hydration... my "expert" tells me a lot can go wrong when people underestimate this. If you feel "thirsty" your already indicating mild de hydration in a clinical sense. Drink before you get the urge to. Once your behind the curve, it may take hours to catch up.

if you early urine is dark or cloudy and has a strong odor ... good sign that your suffering some de hydration from the day before.The body will steal moisture for cooling. All body functions will suffer from a lack of water.

Watch the diuretics... coffee, tea, sugary drinks and alcohol will all produce a net loss in retained water in the body. Drink em if you like- but make sure you take an equal amount of water to make up what the diuretics carry out.

I always forget to "prepare" my gatoraid, cutting it in half just like you suggest. So what I end up doing is drinking a bottle of gatoraid and the next drink will be water. Probably not the best route but you are right about the gatoraid being too "thick". But on the other hand I can feel that it helps far more than just water alone. Me being old, fat and out of shape from riding a desk chair each day in my job may make it more apparent to me than others, I can actually feel the difference. I saw a roofing crew in CVS the other day on their lunch buying Pedialyte. Might have to give that a try, if anyone knows what works they probably do.

 

[poopgiggle]

My thing with straight Gatorade is that it makes me a little sick to my stomach because there's so much sugar in it.

I saw a roofing crew in CVS the other day on their lunch buying Pedialyte. Might have to give that a try, if anyone knows what works they probably do.

I know that athletes that compete in sports where you have to make a certain weight (rowers, wrestlers, etc) use Pedialyte to re-hydrate after cutting weight.

 

[benjamin-benjamin]

couple of things
1. yes, steve believe it or not it is the exact same thing as the chia pet! same seeds
2. Jeff, lately i have been getting some weird looks after taking your advice, i think people wonder why i stick my head in the urinal to smell my urine..

 

[Burk Cornelius]

As an aside, be sure to keep an eye out for the super seniors. Some of them will insist on continuing to reset and paste, when they need to be in the shade drinking water. God love them for coming out, but I'll gladly pick up their slack pasting.

That's why I never reset OR paste targets..........................

After I shoot, I just turn and walk away. Like the guy in the Glock commercials

 

[Jer Fry]

Do you pick them from your chia pet?

Can you just roll and smoke your Chia pet?

 

[Jefpainthorse]

couple of things
1. yes, steve believe it or not it is the exact same thing as the chia pet! same seeds
2. Jeff, lately i have been getting some weird looks after taking your advice, i think people wonder why i stick my head in the urinal to smell my urine..

Smelling is not the issue Ben. Leave the "mint" alone --- others want to share

 

[dennishoddy]

couple of things
1. yes, steve believe it or not it is the exact same thing as the chia pet!

Next thing we will have to do is wear a necklace to alert the RO that we are prone and can't get up.....

 

[silver star]

As an aside, be sure to keep an eye out for the super seniors. Some of them will insist on continuing to reset and paste, when they need to be in the shade drinking water. God love them for coming out, but I'll gladly pick up their slack pasting.

We have a super senior named Richard who puts a lot of us younger folks in the shade, so to speak.
But 1st and 4th Saturday of the month come to OKC gun club and take up my slack please.

 

[silver star]

I would like to contribute to this thread.
I too was having problems with heat, still do.
My learning curve began with the hydration issue which is well described here so far.
However the 2 in the afternoon brain farts as I call them was more than just hydration for me.
I consulted with a clinical nutritionist and found out that our brains function totally on carbohydrates. The 2pm brain farts were due to a combination of poor hydration AND low or deficient carbohydrate levels.
Along with pre-hydrating 2 or 3 days before an event, do like the Olympians’ and CARB LOAD.
Basically eat the proper kind of carbs, COMPLEX CARBS.
These are like time released carbs verses your regular carbs that give you an energy spike and then you carb crash.
Fruit, Bright Colored Vegetables and Energy Bars is the simple of it.
My cooler will consist of water, something to replace electrolytes.
In a baggie with water I will have carrots & cauliflower.
A couple of cans of peaches or pears and some power bars.
A bar towel to dip in cold water to cool my blood down.
That along with carb loading and hydrating 3 days before will make a huge difference for you in the afternoon heat.
Forget everything you just read if you are competing against me in August.
Ha!
PS, if you spend the bulk of your time indoors, go out and help with the match setup the day before. This will temper you a bit for the next day heat.

 

[bsdubois00]

Be careful with pedilite straight. Mix it with water or be sure to dribk water right after.

 

[slider]

Half our squad went to eat lunch while the rest of us found shade and waited for them to return. They were not as "sharp" when they came back after chowing on BBQ.

I find that Pre- hydrating for a couple of days before and drinking zero calorie Gatorade alternated with water is effective. Also, it is good to snack every couple of hours at least. This keeps your body fueled and hydrated and lets you maintain an even keel while running and gunning.

 

[dennishoddy]

Half our squad went to eat lunch while the rest of us found shade and waited for them to return. They were not as "sharp" when they came back after chowing on BBQ.

I find that Pre- hydrating for a couple of days before and drinking zero calorie Gatorade alternated with water is effective. Also, it is good to snack every couple of hours at least. This keeps your body fueled and hydrated and lets you maintain an even keel while running and gunning.

I'm a Gatorade G2 fan. Less calories, and it tastes better.

Working in a power plant with working temps at 130 degrees or better all the time, we are well versed in hydration.

At matches, I'll take a short break and do some energy bars, or some high protien snacks way before noon when the heat gets bad.

Being acclimated to the heat on the job makes shooting in the heat not so bad for me.

Those that have a job in the AC can sure have problems not being acclimated.

 

[Spiff]

Working in a power plant with working temps at 130 degrees or better all the time, we are well versed in hydration.

Dude's not kidding. The hottest I've been in my entire life was looking for a steam leak under one of the turbines in Mustang. It was so hot my mouth felt weird.