Heat, Humidity, and Cramps!
Boy it has been strange weather this past week. No sunshine for 4 days and high humidity. Our Air Conditioner went out that cools the whole house and it was a stinker trying to sleep when you are dripping wet and irt’s 85 in the house and no breeze. I can’t imagine how the people down south live without air conditioning.
I like the heat but I’m not a huge fan of humidity.
Make sure you hydrate and eat lots of good foods when it’s hot and humid out. You should try to get 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water intake. I’ve been preaching the the high school football team the importance of hydrating so they don’t cramp up. You have to do it the whole week, not just gameday. Sure enough, we had some cramping issues friday night. Cramps are generally very preventable. It all comes down to nutrition and hydration. If you skip breakfast, have a coffee and hit the road then you are more than likely going to have some cramping issues if you are active outside. I remember one Birkie I cramped so severely I had to get an I.V. afterwards. I couldn’t walk. That was 15 years ago and haven’t had an issue with them since. I used to fear getting cramps in my quads or calfs with 10 km to go in the Birkie but now I may get a slight one near the finish line or after. They are really painful. Football seems to bring the cramps out in everyone. Drink, and eat mineral filled foods like veggies and fruits. I use Magnesium and pink salt for those that have a tendency to get cramps if normal hydration doesn’t seem to do the trick.
The Chieftains had their first football game friday night and beat my alma mater handily 36-0. We just had to much speed and size for the Saints. It was fun to see a great crowd and I saw my old football coach Keith O’Donnell and old basketball coach Ron Greenquist on the sidelines. They are both Wisconsin Hall of fame football coaches and were really great coaches and fantastic people.
I tell my son Riley to listen to his coaches. They have pearls of wisdom not only about football but life. That’s one of the coolest thigns about sports is it’s a lot like life. You have highs and you have lows. You generally aren’t at either extreme to long so just hang in there and work hard and good things will happen. We all have challenges. That’s life. If you have a health issue that’s where I come in to play. While I don’t have all the answers, I will do whatever I can do assist you in your health and well-being so you can live a substationally better quality of life.
Ok, that’s a quick post for this week. Get out and enjoy life. Dr. E
P.S. Chiefs play hte Hayward Hurricanes this Thursday 7 pm at OHS football field.