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My 5 Favorite Running-Related Studies This Month

Heat and fuel utilization; ultra-running and heart health; carb loading; vitamin D; and testing how long supershoes’ benefits last.

9 min readSep 26, 2025

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Heat Training Changes How You Burn Fuel

Training in the brutal summer heat makes your body feel like it’s working double time (I’m nearly over this scorching Texas summer we’re having). But here’s the fascinating part: training in the heat doesn’t just make you more comfortable in hot conditions — it actually changes how your muscles use energy.

A new study shows that a month of structured heat acclimation can shift your metabolism in ways that might help you race stronger when it’s hot, and probably in cooler temps too.

Eighteen trained male middle- and long-distance runners were split into two groups. One trained in normal temperatures (20–25°C or 68–77℉), while the other did 20 sessions of heat acclimation over four weeks, running in conditions that pushed their core temperature to 39–40°C (102–104℉) each session. Before and after the training block, both groups completed treadmill tests and metabolic assessments in the heat (~30–32°C or 86–89℉).

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Brady Holmer
Brady Holmer

Written by Brady Holmer

Science writer and communicator — M.Sc. in Human Performance and Endurance Athlete

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