Forgive me if this is old news here, but our county has a policy that requires our distance runners to keep their shirts on during workouts. Here in Florida, it's hard enough to get kids to run the necessary miles in our heat & humidity. Our administration will not budge unless we can offer some legitimate research that indicates that running with a shirt in this kind of heat is a health risk. Anything out there that can help us?
And what possible repercussions could the runners face if they choose to remove their shirts?
I guess the other solution is to get the schools to budget for light mesh singlets that the runners can wear for workouts.
ahhh surely someone in FL has heard of heat exhaustion.
Coach, what county are you in? That is bizarre. I grew up in FL and still live in Gainesville. Never heard of it, but then, my home state does some stupid stuff sometimes. What is the reason for this rule? I'd guess some school administrator got her panties in a wad over skin cancer and sun exposure. I guess she doesn't understand what heat stroke can do to a person...
I'd be glad to help look up something. There is tons of information about heat stress and how type of covering and proper evaporation of sweat is necessary to prevent heat stress and heat stroke. Most of it is in military populations and athletes that wear heavy equipment, like football players. I'll get back on this site or email you if I can find something directly related to running and heat stress.
Lightweight, white, cotton t-shirts or better yet tank tops would be the best way to go (or mesh like the guy above said) if you can't get this stupid rule overturned. But point out to the admins every to take a look at every single person out jogging over the next 4 months and how they are covered with as little as possible.
That sucks, I went to high school in Seminole County and it was basically a given that all the high school boys ran shirtless during practice, it didn't bother anyone.
As far as research though, I think you might be screwed. Don't quote me on this, but I thought that running with a shirt (technical tee) was better than running shirtless because it wicks the sweat off your body on onto the shirt. I don't think the same can be said for cotton shirts though. The drawback of course being the shirt getting drenched with sweat and becoming heavy.
I still live and train in FL, and I only wear a shirt when it's below 60 degrees. I agree with the guy that said try and get a budget for tech-T's or singles for them to train in.
Wait! You're in Hillsborough county and they have this rule?!?! WTF?! That's no stupid hick county (yes FL has them), that's Tampa! Some great high school athletic programs from there - Leto, Sickles, Gaither, Plant. I don't know how many state xc titles Leto has over the decades....10, 15? How in the hell did some county admin decide that kids have to wear shirts at practice. I'm dumbfounded. Call up the Leto coach (if you're not there) and ask if his kids keep shirts on. I guarantee they don't. This is ridiculous. I'm actually kind of angry that someone in Florida could be THAT stupid. I guess no one ever heard of Eraste Autin, the 18 year old freshman who died of heat stroke during UF early season football practice in 2001. I was a student here then, and it rocked everyone who follows Gator Football.
I'm looking up stuff now. I'm also looking up people here at UF who study heat stress. I personally know at least two, and I know there are more.
Shirtless might be cooler than wearing a cotton t-shirt, but modern athletic clothing will indeed keep the athlete's temps lower than going shirtless. UV protection is a bonus.
Yes, I coach in Tampa. The rule has been around a while, but only sporadically enforced. Recently, someone complained to our county AD about shirtless runners and we were all "reminded" of the rule. When a veteran coach publically refused to make his girls wear shirts at practice, he was threatened with his job unless he complied.
The only way we can get the county to reconsider is with legitimate research that shows running shirtless is cooler. Our school can afford to get tech shirts for practice (though the kids would rather go shirtless), but what about teams from lower economic areas? We need research that suggests wearing a shirt increases the risk of heat exhaustion.
I've researched this extensively, and there is a positive correlation of +.6 between being shirtless and increasing fun. The correlation of being pantless to increased fun is approaching 1.
While not final, I am pretty damn sure that not only are these correlate, but there is definitely some causation as well.
make them wear these shirts....it'll surely piss someone off......http://store.glennz.com/dangerousgames.html
Running shirtless in Florida can lead to death and injury, dehydration and heat stroke are major issues when running shirtless for an hour in 90+... Coach you would be well adviced to make then drink water and tell them to LEAVE PRACTICE if they cant wear their shirt because it'll be your fault. A shirt helps them retain water, stop skin cancer, and stay cool. If they dont wear a shirt they'll overheat, think of it as a self-consistent pool.
Yes, what is the name of your county?
That's a dumb rule, but personally I feel cooler in a fairly loose lightweight tech shirt.
FL distance coach wrote:
Our school can afford to get tech shirts for practice (though the kids would rather go shirtless), but what about teams from lower economic areas?
People in those areas wouldn't complain about shirtless runners. It's only the rich, uptight, no-life, busy-body New England retirees who would do that sort of thing.
Do your kids ever race shirtless in meets? If not, then why the hell do they need to practice without shirts? Why would you have your kids wear less in practice than in a meet? This defies logic. Make them wear their shirts. I always make my kids wear their shirts.
You need to "heat train" your kids to be prepared for the heat, considering they will race next fall in the heat with a singlet on. If your kids are heat trained, it will also prevent heat exhaustion by upregulating blood plasma = hydration for blood, growth factors, immune cells, etc.. The best athletes in the world are heat training. Ever seen a shirtless African? No, they are dressed from head to toe in the summer. Haven't seen any research on going shirtless (why should there be?), but there is a lot of information out there about the advantages of heat training. Check this out:
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum5/HTML/002582.shtml
An elite who heat trains wrote:
You need to "heat train" your kids to be prepared for the heat...The best athletes in the world are heat training.
You have obviously never run in FL summers...or spring or fall for that matter. You're telling me that these kids need MORE heat training than they already get.
The best athletes in the world may "heat train" because they aren't in a typical hot and humid climate to begin with.
Ron Tabb and Benji Durden lived in Houston and Atlanta. Both were known heat trainers, including the summer. And yes, I've been to Florida for extended periods of time and am originally from the Southwest.
Pablo is right. 90+ degrees with 80% humidity is far worse than the heat training that anyone needs to do. ALL Florida runners are heat trained, all the time. Doing every single thing you can possibly to do stay cool while running in Florida summers, you are still heat training. It's just that bad sometimes. Florida summers are brutal for running. Actually, from May-late October is brutal. Trust me, they are getting all the heat training they need right now.
Also, the "africans" wearing shirts are most likely training at altitude where the air is dry. There's a HUGE difference between 20% humidity and 80%, or even 60%. I just walked across the street to the cafeteria and my clothes are sticking to me. The humidity here in FL is nasty...and I'm heat acclimated. I used to live in Denver. It gets hot there during the summer. In fact there were 31 days of over 100 degrees in the summer of 2008 there. It was hot, no doubt, but it was nowhere near as uncomforatble as 90 degrees is in on an average florida afternoon.
FL coach - Go to pubmed.com and type in "heat stress running clothing". You will get a number of articles (well...abstracts of articles) that discuss types of clothing for heat stress. I have also contacted several people who are experts in the field asking about this since I cannot personally find much regarding shirtless vs. clothed. Waiting to hear back.
I just got a response from one of my contacts who is faculty at the US Army research institute at Natick Massachussets. Your question has been passed on to two top experts the Army has on the subject of heat stress and physical exertion. I'll let you know what they report back.