'healthy' room temperature for dancing - expert advice needed!

[zafirah]

Looking for some input from people from people with medical/fitness knowledge. . . .

I'm pretty sure that exercising in a room that is too cold is bad for you. But I don't really know the science behind it. It sure as hell feels bad for my poor muscles! Surely the point in 'warming up' is that its safer for the muscles to be warm when exercising, especially with this dance which involves intricate and delicate muscle work . .

I understand why gyms/studios etc should be cooler than rooms where people are just sitting about, but when you can feel a chill cutting into your skin surely that’s going too far? This is partly about one particular venue who claim they have no control over the temperature - and it is seriously only about 10 degrees centigrade in there or something - no exaggeration) but also in general about people that insist on opening windows to the scottish/british winter (its not just up here, has happened in london in nov/dec too) as soon as they get a little flushed, generally without actual consulting the rest of the class.

What harm is there in being warm and sweaty? Yeah I know it can get too hot but I'm not talking about so hot you pass out here - surely being warm, pink and slightly sweaty when doing physical activity (providing you stay hydrated) is safer than being so cold your muscles never feel warm, or your muscles instantly cooling as soon as you stop moving??

Even if you are overheated surely blasting yourself with fridge temperature or colder air from the outside onto your naked flesh is a bad idea? Surely you should cool yourself gently?

It drives me nuts. It’s a dance where you need to wear form fitting clothing to really see whats going on but I am constantly driven to wearing so many layers (yesterday 3 layers and a fleece, 2 pairs pf socks) to workshops because people (inevitably clad head to toe in NYLON or something non breathable like that) can't stand one drop of sweat.

So anyway, does anyone have some actual physiological knowledge about muscles and temperature to back me up?

Z

[HubicRuzz]

I'm in the belief that you should keep the body in a good working temperature will the air should be cool to maximum oxygen density. So a room temperature of 16-20 degrees c while to rug up in a track suit and you can take layers off as you start to sweat.

You wouldn't want it colder or you could develop breathing difficulties and get bronchitis.

[kina]

65 - 70 degrees fahrenheight is the warmest the room should be. You should not open the windows, not because someone will get sick, bt warm muscles will get cold, get fans to move the air around in the room instead.

you warm up muscles so that they are limber and can move in the ways that you want them to, if you cool them down too soon without stretching they will get stiff.

[Lauren_]

I checked my ACE GFI manual. It discusses exercising in heat & cold, why they're bad for you, and how to cope if you're exercising in extreme temps (jogging, for instance) but doens't give an ideal range.

[zafirah]

Right . . i did a conversion thingy . . .I reckon this dance studio i was in at the weekend was 50 farenheit or below and the air coming in the window in the other venue was probably somewhere below that too.

I wans't saying dance studios should be roasting . . .I was arguing I think people go way too far the other way.

Z

[traceylove]

Two of my girls are studying dance and they have been told that the opt temp is 21c

Tracey

[Lauren_]

Originally Posted by zafirah

Right . . i did a conversion thingy . . .I reckon this dance studio i was in at the weekend was 50 farenheit or below and the air coming in the window in the other venue was probably somewhere below that too.

I wans't saying dance studios should be roasting . . .I was arguing I think people go way too far the other way.

Z

Yikes! And if you perspire while you're dancing and then have to stop to discuss a step, that's definitely a chill!

[danidance]

If you have students who are menopausal (and that can be mid 40s, as in me) - then warm rooms are horrid. hot flashes are not fun and they are exacerbated by hot rooms/temps.

Seems to me a room around 70 degrees (sorry, don't know what that is Celsius) is comfy for me to exist in with movement and hot flashes.

[Athallia]

Can you talk to the teacher?? By letting people open the windows like that she's allowing them to put themselves and others in harm's way. You can get sick from the low temperature and/or the shock of cold air, there's risk of injury if there's any deep stretching in class, and you can't really dance well if it's so cold that all you want to do is curl up into a little ball.

[deelybopper]

I know nothing about what an 'optimum' temperature might be, but I just want to follow up danidance's comment:

People experience temperature very, very differently. This can be down to medical problems, metabolism, etc. I've experienced this at work before: some people bring in t-shirt and shorts to change into, others bring extra scarves and jumpers and have a small fan heater on - we all sit in the SAME ROOM.

A room that you experience as pretty chilly others may experience as boiling hot - regardless of what the reading on the thermometer says.

I don't know what the answer is, sorry!

[Bellydancingcaroline]

Hi - I think this was my studio (don't worry Z - as I like to hear ways I can improve things for people). I echo what deelybopper was saying about people feeling extremes differently. Half the class are adamant it's boiling hot and want the windows open, and the other half are cold. The compromise I reached was to tell everyone that it can sometimes get really cold in the studio, and can they bring layers and socks for the colder times.

[SummerSahar]

Originally Posted by Athallia

Can you talk to the teacher?? By letting people open the windows like that she's allowing them to put themselves and others in harm's way. You can get sick from the low temperature and/or the shock of cold air,

This is actually a big myth. You cannot get sick if you go outside with wet hair on a cold day, nor can you get sick if you sweat and go outside, no matter how cold it is (and neither of these factors will make you more susceptible to becoming sick, either. It's just an old wives' tale). The only way you get sick is if a germ (bacteria or virus) is transmitted into your body by you touching something an infected person has touched (like a doorknob) and then you touch your face (eyes most commonly, inside your nose, sometimes mouth). So don't worry about opening a window or door to let cool air into a stuffy dance room if someone catching a cold or pneumonia or bronchitis is your only worry. They won't get sick that way.

[Lauren_]

That's true. But we all touch thousands of germs every day and depend on our immune system (and personal hygiene) to protect us. Being chilled does lower your resistance. Your body can only solve so many problems at one time.

[zumarrad]

Ten degrees? That's not cold. THREE is cold. THREE BELOW is really cold (but not in the USA). If you can't see your breath, it's not cold.

*kicks kids off porch*

I must admit, I prefer to be cooler generally than hotter - well, actually, I like to have a blasting heater at my feet, but to be able to turn the heat off and on when I want to - but dancing in a very cold environment *is* a problem for me. Last winter my back was a nightmare when I was dancing in freezing Timaru. I think layers, a la ballet dancers, are your best bet in a dance environment. Wear lots, remove as you warm up. If you never get that hot, you're not chilling yourself.

[zafirah]

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

Hi - I think this was my studio (don't worry Z - as I like to hear ways I can improve things for people). I echo what deelybopper was saying about people feeling extremes differently. Half the class are adamant it's boiling hot and want the windows open, and the other half are cold. The compromise I reached was to tell everyone that it can sometimes get really cold in the studio, and can they bring layers and socks for the colder times.

Yeah and the half who open the windows then make nasty comments about the fact I'm wearing a fleece!

Caroline, I know you couldn't control that studio, its not a moan at you, more to have some ammunition and facts next time I'm freezing my butt off for on or two people to be 'comfortable'.


Z

p.s. there are limits to layering . . . even with my 4 tops and a fleece and 2 pairs of socks I could feel my knees seizing up . . maybe next time I should make sure to be wearing a couple of pairs of tights (pantyhose) too . . .

[kina]

Originally Posted by SummerSahar

This is actually a big myth. You cannot get sick if you go outside with wet hair on a cold day, nor can you get sick if you sweat and go outside, no matter how cold it is (and neither of these factors will make you more susceptible to becoming sick, either. It's just an old wives' tale). The only way you get sick is if a germ (bacteria or virus) is transmitted into your body by you touching something an infected person has touched (like a doorknob) and then you touch your face (eyes most commonly, inside your nose, sometimes mouth). So don't worry about opening a window or door to let cool air into a stuffy dance room if someone catching a cold or pneumonia or bronchitis is your only worry. They won't get sick that way.

While this is true, if you are too cold, or too warm for too long, you stress your immune system, which makes you more susceptible to getting sick.

[Ainsley]

Also, some people have medical conditions that do make sudden changes in temperature a major problem. I have asthma, and the shock to my system of a rapid drop in temperature gives me one of my most severe kinds of asthma attacks. When I was in Turkey the summer before last, just jumping into the ocean gave me a killer wheeze, and the Aegean is not that cold! I won't even go into how much trouble I had going to university in Ontario, where temperatures in winter regularly drop to -20 C.

So, while getting sick from opening a window wouldn't be a concern for everyone, respiratory conditions like asthma are common enough that opening a warm dance studio window on frigid outside air doesn't seem to me to be safe practice for a room full of people of unknown medical backgrounds.

[SummerSahar]

Originally Posted by kina

While this is true, if you are too cold, or too warm for too long, you stress your immune system, which makes you more susceptible to getting sick.

There is evidence to support each side of this argument, but I don't think a 1 hour class or even a 4 hour workshop is going to stress anyone's immune system enough to make them more susceptible to colds. The dancers would be sweating most of the time, and even if they did stop mid-sweat to get some fresh, cold air, that's only exposure for a few minutes, at the most, before they'd start moving and sweating again. It takes a lot more than that to lower our body temperatures!
:-)

[SummerSahar]

Originally Posted by Ainsley

Also, some people have medical conditions that do make sudden changes in temperature a major problem. I have asthma, and the shock to my system of a rapid drop in temperature gives me one of my most severe kinds of asthma attacks. When I was in Turkey the summer before last, just jumping into the ocean gave me a killer wheeze, and the Aegean is not that cold! I won't even go into how much trouble I had going to university in Ontario, where temperatures in winter regularly drop to -20 C.

So, while getting sick from opening a window wouldn't be a concern for everyone, respiratory conditions like asthma are common enough that opening a warm dance studio window on frigid outside air doesn't seem to me to be safe practice for a room full of people of unknown medical backgrounds.

Yikes! That's a bummer, Ainsley, and definitely something to consider before opening a window!