Do cold, cloudy, snowy, and rainy days keep you inside? Are you waiting for the warm and sunny weather to lure you out and encourage you to be more active? If so, you are a good companion. But there is a way to get you out and move in the coldest temperatures. And being active is essential for good health at any age.
Have you ever returned home?
I get an almost daily weather forecast from my daughter who lives in Washington, DC. Reports for the past few months usually look like “below freezing, Arctic winds, snow, potential for more snow, ice, cold, very cold.”
It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy the winter months, but she’s trapped inside because of bad weather. She is a runner and enjoys hiking on nearby trails. The severe cold puts her motivation on the ice.
Adding her remote work and the shadow of COVID makes it much easier to get home. Of course, she has a kettlebell and a resistance band and is training at her home for some exercise. But it’s not the same.
Like countless others, my daughter struggles to stay outdoors when long-term forecasts demand stormy weather. I am also guilty. I enjoy open water swimming in Florida, where I live, but when the waters of the Gulf are below 70 degrees, I stay on land even in wetsuits.
So what can we do to warm up to the cold climate until spring and summer are fully reached and we can return to our usual outdoor habitat? Here are three tips.
Join a fitness group
You are not alone in the Cold War, and you are strong in numbers. Use the team component to join a walking or running group, or another outdoor activity. When others rely on your participation, you are much more likely to go out and appear.
“Your teammates are also a way to increase social interaction, and the potential relationships you make are your commitment to fitness by being surrounded by others who are actively working on your fitness goals. It helps to maintain, “says David Topor, a clinical psychologist and associate director, for medical professional education at the VA Boston Healthcare System attached to Harvard University.
This fitness tribal approach has helped me since I recently joined an open water swimming group. My group motivates me to appear in the evening and morning swims that I would otherwise skip.
Set spring goals
There is no motive beyond the strict deadline. Sign up for the race, sign on the sofa for the 5K program, or book an active adventure trip after May. Thus, you will have to go out more to get physically prepared. My daughter recently applied for a half marathon, so she has to start strapping her running shoes. In addition, making a financial investment (and not wanting to waste money) is an additional motivation.
Accept the cold
Instead of hiding from the cold, face-to-face for activities in cold climates such as skiing (downhill or cross-country), snowshoeing, skating, or hecking, and even curling, the 2022 Winter Olympics favorite television event. Please join us. This approach is useful in two ways. It is less intimidating because it can offer new challenges and increase interaction with cold weather.
Many of these activities are equal to or better than traditional aerobic exercise in warm weather. For example, reviews of multiple studies have found that skiing offers the same aerobic benefits as indoor cycling. If you choose to try new cold weather activities, your brain may also benefit.
Exercising in cold weather may improve certain aspects of your fitness, such as increasing endurance.
“At colder temperatures, the heart doesn’t have to work that hard, sweats less, and consumes less energy, all of which means you can exercise more efficiently,” said an assistant professor of sports medicine and rehabilitation. One Dr. Adam Tenforde says. At Harvard University’s Spalding Rehabilitation Network.
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