News
Sunburn Vs Performance
Sunlight is a natural source of Vitamin D, the vitamin responsible for helping regulate calcium and phosphate and keeping our bones healthy. Sunlight is also a great mood booster and something we are rarely without in Dubai. While most of our outdoor pools provide canopy shading helping to protect our skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, many of us seek out more sun exposure during the weekend or are unavoidably exposed to the sun during outdoor school activities, PE classes, or after-school sports.
While sun exposure has positive correlations in terms of health, it can turn into a negative should we be exposed to too much, resulting in sunburn. There are obvious risks associated with UV sunlight including various skin cancers and these are the main reasons we apply sunscreen when planning on being in the sun for long periods. Sometimes (and hopefully unintentionally), sunburn still occurs, and swimmers cannot hide their burnt shoulders and faces when they turn up to session in the afternoon. But what are the consequences of training whilst burnt and how does sunburn inhibit performance outcomes?
Dehydration
As the visibly red colour suggests, sunburned skin is hot to the touch. The red colour is an influx in blood to the affected area sent by our immune system as a response to the damaged skin. The burned skin draws fluid away from the rest of your body and directs it towards the affected area to help cool. This relocation of fluid then harms our bodies' thermoregulatory system, resulting in overall dehydration unless rehydration strategies are used.
During sport, we are constantly sweating, even if it is harder to see during swimming. Having to compete for fluid with sunburned skin can become a losing battle when trying to train at the same time. It has been shown that even a 1% decrease in hydration levels can have a massive impact on overall endurance and fatigue levels. It can also cause an increase in heart rate, muscle cramps, breathing rate, and headaches. Training whilst sunburned is ill-advised, as the outcome of a session will be significantly reduced. Rehydration strategies to recover from sunburn should include electrolytes and moisturisers which include aloe vera to help soothe and hydrate the skin.
Recovery
With every session in the pool and on land, the objective is always to recover in the most efficient way possible to ensure optimum performance in the subsequent session (nutrition, sleep, mobility, and hydration). When sunburned, your body responds in the same way as when you have an illness. When dealing with a cold or other virus, we all know that training volume and intensity should be reduced and that performance in training may not be to the same standard as when our bodies are healthy. Those who are sunburned however take no such precautions and often try to ignore the burn and carry on as normal.
Recovering from sessions with sunburned skin takes longer than normal resulting in potentially compromising subsequent sessions unless recovery protocols are increased. One of the most impaired forms of recovery when sunburned is sleep. As our body temperature and skin temperature is increased when burned, often it is more difficult to sleep at night. Add to this the uncomfortable nature of lying on the burn and moving in the night, and a decrease in REM sleep can often be experienced.
Thermoregulation
It will come as no surprise that performance outcomes are significantly impacted due to heat. We all know that our energy levels can take a hit when training in a pool that is a mere 1° warmer than we are used to and performance in land training sessions is decreased when sessions are outside in summer temperatures. This is due to our bodies' thermoregulatory system. This system is responsible for keeping our body at our usual temperature (around 37°C) by balancing heat production and heat loss. During exercise, the muscles burn energy and release heat causing a sweat reaction.
The sweat actively cools the skin and helps to dissipate heat. When an area is sunburned, the dissipation of heat is uneven as the burned area becomes the priority to cool. With thermoregulation working overtime, we can become fatigued quicker and risk heat stroke due to becoming overly warm. Add to this the dehydration discussed above, and our body starts to struggle to maintain homeostasis.
Solutions
When planning on being out in the sun, whether it be leisure time or for sport, be proactive in applying sunscreen (factor 30+). For those with fair skin and therefore more prone to burning, make sure you apply protection more regularly than others (and don’t be shy in doing so!). Suncream should be applied 30 minutes before initial sun exposure and re-applied every couple of hours, more so if going in and out of water. If sunburn does occur, cover the affected area, and avoid further exposure to the sun. Cool the area with a cold compress and or cooling lotions and take anti-inflammatory medications if required. Rehydrate with water and electrolytes and reduce training intensity in the immediate days post-burn.