OCONOMOWOC -- Unlike a snow day, the summer provides no excuses to miss a day at work.
"This one is a barn-burner," electrician Darren Habermehl quips to TODAY'S TMJ4. "In the winter time you can layer and if you get warm you take stuff off. When it gets this hot and humid, the humidity just sucks the energy out of you."
With the heat index creeping towards 100 degrees, Habermehl and other construction crews braved the elements to continue their work on various projects. Habermehl, who served a tour in Iraq, says working in the humidity requires more than just drinking water.
"When you sweat, not only is it that water that comes out of your body, but you sweat the salts and minerals that comes out of your skin," Habermehl explains. "By eating, we're replacing that."
For some jobs, the heat is quite a contrast to the office-atmosphere. John Pikalek manages the Kosher Meat Klub distribution center, and spends much of the day carrying boxes in and out of the freezers.
"I've gotten summer colds before because changing from heat to cold and back it affects you a little bit," Pikalek tells TODAY'S TMJ4. "When you leave to go outside, it's like getting hit in the face with a water balloon."
While some need to work outside, others choose to workout outside. Trainers we spoke with however, strongly discourage the notion exercising in this heat leads to a "good sweat."
"It's heavier on the body," Laura Ramm, a licensed trainer from Aurora Health Sports Medicine explains to TODAY'S TMJ4. "Your body has a hard time cooling itself, so your body is working harder and harder and harder to cool down."
