Cold Weather Fitness Tips

by Molly Magunga, MS ATC, CPT, CES

Hello everyone! This week’s “Fitness Tip of the Week” is about cold weather exercise. The holiday season has officially began. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving  filled with good food, great company, and optimal relaxation. Thanksgiving weekend ended just in time for another snow storm.

With Thanksgiving finished, many are ready to refocus on our fitness goals and grind for the remainder of the year.  I know most of us will try and reduce our cold exposure as much as possible. We will keep our workouts within the warm, safe walls of the indoors. For those of us that are needing fresh air, we must bundle up, brave the elements, and get our workout in outside. There are so many winter activities to keep you active!  With the temperatures dropping and snow accumulating; however, being prepared for the cold weather elements is essential. 

Outdoor Fitness Tips:

When we do desire to mix it up and workout outside, here are some tips to keep you safe and warm. 

1. Warm up! 
   • Doing a proper warm up is always important, but when you are going out in cold weather, it’s even more necessary. It’s very easy to tighten up when that cold air hits you body. 
2. Protect your skin
   • Remember:  Lotion, sunscreen, and coverage. Cold air is very dry, so lotion up the skin before and after and cover as much skin as you can during. Also, remember that just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean you don’t still need sunscreen. 
3. Breathe
   • Cold air can cause you to alter your breathing during exercise. It’s going to feel harder to inhale, so you will want to breathe faster and faster, but that just going to result in hyperventilation. Really concentrate on your breathe to keep is controlled and avoid hyperventilation.
4. Hydrate
   • Just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean you don’t sweat or need to hydrate your body!
5. Check for slippery condition
   • I’m not going to say much on this one; except, be careful!
6. Start going into the wind 
   • Hypothermia is very serious. If you start into the wind, you reduce your wind factor when you are at your sweatiest. This little details can help reduce the risk of hypothermia and keep you a little safer outside. 
7. Dress with dry, bright colored, layers
   • Below is a great chart to help you layer for different temperature ranges. Pick bright colored outer layers, especially if you are doing your workout early in the morning or later in the afternoon when sunlight isn’t as powerful.

If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me at mmagunga@healthworksfitness.com or comment below!