Elite sportspeople use extreme heat centres to train for events such as desert marathons or major international tournaments in summer. I am a half-unfit idiot. One day last week, in the name of science and content, those two things merged together. Working title: there will be sweat.
As you walk into Loughborough University’s Performance Centre, a sign on the wall greets you: “one of the world’s largest elite strength and conditioning training environments”. It makes me stop for a second, just long enough to give the game away. Who am I kidding? I probably stand out anyway.
This summer’s World Cup is going to be hot, perhaps even the hottest on record. In Dallas, Houston, Monterrey, Miami, Atlanta and Kansas City, temperatures could easily reach levels where heat stress is a significant danger. We’re not just talking about running, remember; it’s the impaired ability to make rapid, correct decisions under pressure plus extreme climatic conditions.
In a laboratory inside the Performance Centre, there is a place that helps out. They provide training programmes to elite athletes that offer acclimatisation to extreme heat and humid environments. I am welcomed by performance physiologists Hannah Bashford and Dan Thornton, who will also be my torturers-in-chief.
