Can’t handle the heat? This is how Olympians and cricketers do it

“Basically, yeah,” he says. “Adapting to the heat is like going to the gym; you’ve got to expose yourself to the stimulus over time in order to see progress.”

Even though it feels a little like an environmental form of Stockholm Syndrome, Jay points out that the issue of rising temperatures isn’t going away and whether we like it or not, learning to live in hotter climates is something we’re going to have to do, not least because soaring electricity prices are forcing more of us to turn off our air conditioning and find new ways of coping.

Dr David Hughes, the Australian Institute of Sport’s Chief Medical Officer, agrees with the effectiveness of acclimation, saying that while exposure training may seem daunting, it’s actually surprisingly easy and offers fast results.

Having worked with athletes across the Australian Open, Tokyo Olympics and Commonwealth Games, Hughes says heat acclimation is the best way to handle hot situations.

“Even within a week of training, you get very quick adaption,” he says.

While Olympians use heat chambers to prepare for competitive environments and tennis players can often be found jetting into Australia weeks ahead of major tournaments to prepare for our notoriously grueling summers, Hughes says the majority of people safely exposing themselves to heat incrementally will pay off.

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“If you come from a cold climate and walk out into the Australian heat it’s going to hit you hard, but you are completely trainable. It can be as small as taking yourself out for a walk each day for a couple of weeks. The reason it hits hard is if someone is unprepared for it,” Hughes says, adding, “when you expose yourself to heat the body makes adjustments.”

So now, in a bid to shift my relationship with air conditioning from a place of codependence to healthy occasional use, I’ve begun taking walks that involve slatherings of SPF 50 sunscreen and copious amounts of internal dissatisfaction. Some days are horrible and others are actually kind of nice. I can feel my brain continuing to work instead of resembling a piece of jelly, and the occasional nausea I used to feel after being out too long has all but disappeared. And to curve my air-conditioning addiction I’ve even found a new reward system: Frosty Fruits.

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