WAG TOO WARM!

[gymisforeveryone]

I know this is stupid to complain about this, but I'm DYING in the gym right now. It's SO FREAKING HOT in the gym. The outside temperature is pushing +30 (celsius) degrees and I bet that it's just as hot inside the gym. We have no air conditioning! It's pretty rare to have summer this hot here in the Nordic Countries and we have got enough of the heat. Today I coached for 6 hours (2 x 3 hours) and now I'm dying. And it doesn't help that my flat is even hotter

How do you guys manage in the warmer places in the world? We have 3-6 weeks of hot weather in a year but it feels like a LONG time. The kids would just want to be on the beach and it's pretty hard to motivate them to work hard when it's hard for yourself too.

We take tons of water breaks and the girls (and I) drink easily at least 1 liter of water per practice. And I let them take extended breaks and I water down the conditioning. What else can we do?

For tomorrow, I was planning on buying them some popsicles to eat after practice

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

I feel your pain. Super hot here as well. We throw open the emergency exit and it helps somewhat, but it isn't the best solution. Luckily it's holiday next week so no practice anyways

 

[QuietColours]

Moving air--you don't necessarily need cold air, you need moving air. Gyms around here have big, industrial sized fans they stick in the doors, but little hand-held fans between turns will also feel amazing. Put water or ice packs where the blood vessels are close to the surface of the skin--feet, hands, wrists, neck. Wet hair, dampen clothing. Stay hydrated, obviously.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

AC, lol! I know that’s not super helpful and I know that isn’t even done in Scandinavia (Swede here, living in the US), but there is no way we could have practice in our desert climate without it. It gets to be in the triple digits (close to or above 40celcius) here regularly and the gyms are normally big, giant metal warehouse buildings.
All the above suggestions are great, especially the MOVING AIR. Fans everywhere possible!
Holding practice earlier in the day before it gets warm helps also.
Stay as cool as possible!

 

[John]

DD's gym has no AC. It has been over 90 F for most of summer practice. They practice 8am to 1pm. It is hot but they get used to it. I will say, parents, bring in something frozen for the team most days. The kids are tough and even tougher by the end of summer.

 

[skschlag]

Our gym has HUGE fans on the ceilings, open the big doors. Coaches carry sprayers with ice water and spray the kids down as needed. Lots of water.

I think we might be getting swamp coolers so that will help some. We would not be considered an overly hot climate either, although 90-100 for a while is fairly typical.

My son's group practices 8-1, so that helps his group, but there are groups there all day long.

 

[JessSyd]

My daughter's gym generally cancels practice if the temperature is forecast to go much over forty Celsius, so they miss a few in summer. At temperatures just short of that they manage with fans, spray water bottles, ice blocks, and occasionally on extremely hot days when practice went ahead anyway, letting girls cool down in the airconditioned office.

Winter is almost more of a problem, when it is zero Celsius outside (not cold by Nordic standards, but cold when your gym is an uninsulated wind tunnel), and the gym is not heated.

 

[Flippin'A]

Some of the older optionals at my DD's gym were complaining that they get too sweaty when it's hot in the gym and slip off the beam. Now they dangle towels off the ends so they can wipe their feet and hands off as needed while they're working on series and whatnot. Other than that fans are your friend (and telling the kids to bring in their own handheld fans is great.) Spraying water is lovely, just make sure the kids are doing it where it won't get on slippery mats or anything so it doesn't become a safety issue.

 

[coachmolly]

My old gym was a giant metal warehouse building with no AC. We had some large garage doors we would open and turn on a few industrial fans to get the air flowing. The first few weeks of very hot summer weather were always especially challenging. We just reminded the girls to take lots of water breaks and moved a little slower between stations or events to give a little cool off time. Someone almost always brought popsicles for the kids at the end of practice and sometimes the HC would even call a popsicle break sometime in the middle if the kids really just looked like they needed a break. Some of the girls carried around towels for sweat. Not fun, but you somewhat adjust over time.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

Thanks for the good advise! Actually our gym has some kinds of ventilation, but it doesn't really help when the outside temperature is so hot.

I have to say that I'm almost getting used to this, LOL. I even miss the winter. The girls spent a good amount of time today fantasizing about the possibility that the pit was a pool. LOL again.

Today I brought in the popsicles at the end and the girls were thrilled. And I also put some ice cube backs in the freezer for tomorrow so I can give all the girls some ice in their water bottles.

Today it was +31 degrees and it was the hottest day of the summer so far. The rest of the week is going to be +27 to +30 but then it will hopefully cool down a little. I just miss winter! We can easily get -25 to -30 during the winter months and I can manage that far more easily. You can always just put more clothes on to feel warm, but you can't escape the heat even if you take off all the clothes

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Lots and lots of water.

 

[Flyaway]

Spray fans are life savers.

 

[skschlag]

We can easily get -25 to -30 during the winter months and I can manage that far more easily. You can always just put more clothes on to feel warm, but you can't escape the heat even if you take off all the clothes

I agree! I always say that you can add more clothes, but you can only take so much off before it is illegal

 

[Madden3]

We are in Northern California and it is hell in our gym right now. Just hell. The team practice for my son is early in the day thank goodness. But being in there later in the day for my rec dd is hell.

 

[trampolinemom]

We tried this lifehack at home when it was absurdly hot. Would probably not give enough results for a whole gym but will give you a nice corner to hang out in between turns

 

[Gymsy4]

I guess we’ve been lucky with nice, functioning A/C units. That sounds tough! I’d throw open all of the doors, fans and a lot of water?

 

[SMH]

My kiddo went to a college camp for 4 days and it happened to be 100 degrees- no air conditioning in the college gym- the poor kids were soaked in sweat after 6+ hours of gymnastics each day! I had to remind her to make sure to drink a ton of water,
I was really worried about the heat making the girls sick!

 

[Klaws]

i live in Townsville, Australia. It’s tropical. Summer is roughly 38 degrees C and 90% humidity. That’s hot. I invite you to come and join us in February.