Cold or wet weather is no excuse to avoid outdoor exercise. Fresh air and/or sunshine can still be enjoyed in cooler months and there’s an extra bonus: you burn more calories exercising in the cold. Here are some tips to help make your winter workout safe and satisfying:
- Warm up. Cold temperatures make muscles tight and therefore prone to injury. Make sure you do a thorough warm-up prior to your exercise. However, consider exercising indoors if the temperature is below –17.8 C (zero F).
- Start out by heading into the wind. After you’ve worked up a sweat, you won’t get as chilled if you end your workout with the wind at your back.
- Know the signs of frostbite and hypothermia. Warning signs of frostbite include paleness, numbness or a stinging sensation on the face, fingers or toes. Go indoors immediately. Slowly warm the area without rubbing. Get emergency care if numbness continues. Hypothermia is characterized by intense shivering, slurred speech, loss of coordination and fatigue. Get immediate emergency help. To prevent problems, warm your hands and feet every 20 to 30 minutes, and know when to head indoors.
- Drink up. You can become just as dehydrated in the cold as in the heat from sweating, breathing and increased urine production.
- Wear sunscreen. You can suffer sunburn in winter as in summer. Use lip balm with sunscreen. Protect your eyes from snow glare with sunglasses.
- Choose appropriate gear for your safety, including proper footwear for the weather and the sport you’re doing. If it’s dark or dull from overcast, wear reflective materials to ensure you’re seen. Wear a helmet for skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
- Cover all exposed areas of skin. Mittens provide less surface area for heat to escape, because the fingers are in contact with each other. Wear a hat as well. Incidentally, it’s a myth your head is prone to losing the most heat from your body. More correctly, you lose heat equally all over the body – it’s just that the head is a larger surface area than, say, the hands, so your body loses more heat if the head is uncovered as compared to uncovered hands. Choose wool socks over cotton to keep sweat away from the skin. Wool also retains heat, if your feet become damp.
- Insulate your body by wearing layers, which trap warm air around the body and allows you to remove layers if you get too hot. Avoid cotton clothing, which holds moisture against the skin. One layer of clothing should be wool because it retains heat even when it’s wet. If wool irritates, choose fleece or a synthetic pile. The top layer of your clothing should be a waterproof and wind-resistant jacket and pants. Clothing should be loose fitting: restricting circulation can lead to frostbite.
- Don’t immediately strip when you return indoors – unless your clothing is wet. It’s best to allow your body time to adjust before removing your clothing layers. Post-exercise hypothermia (severe chills) can occur if your body reduces its heat production too quickly.
Now, get out there and embrace the season – safely!
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Eve Lees has been active in the health & fitness industry since 1979. Currently, she is a Freelance Health Writer for several publication and speaks to business and private groups on various health topics.