Tips and tricks to beat the Hong Kong heat while exercising
Keeping cool while keeping fit has always been a challenge in a climate like ours. Maybe special clothing can help, or fooling the body with ice – or maybe the best solution is the simplest: stay hydrated and just do less
Faced with an unusually hot July in which the monthly average temperature was 29.8 degrees Celsius – a full degree higher than the historical norm – I soaked my running visor in water and placed it in the freezer a couple of hours before I’d planned to head out for a run.
It was a failed attempt at trying to keep cool while working out in Hong Kong’s scorching summer. The visor was too “crunchy” to wear out of the freezer, and by the time it thawed enough to wear, it had lost any cooling power it might have stored.
How getting fit in Hong Kong should be an uphill struggle
On another day I trialled the 2XU ICE-X short-sleeve top (HK$540), a technical cooling garment recently launched in Hong Kong. In tests on elite athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport it has been shown to lower surface skin temperature by up to 2.5 degrees. The secret, according to 2XU, lies in xylitol (that sugar alcohol commonly used as a sweetener) embedded in the yarn of the fabric to draw heat from the body. Another technology called IR blocking is said to inhibit penetration of infrared rays, further aiding in cooling.
Unfortunately I did not experience the garment’s claimed cooling effects. I returned from my hour-long slog drenched in sweat and feeling just as hot and bothered as wearing any other running top.
I turned to top age-group triathlete and coach Olivier Baillet of Beyond the Line Coaching for advice. His secret? Ice, ice, baby.