What are 7 Great Benefits to Cold Weather Workouts?

When the thermostat drops and the daylight hours are short, it’s tempting to want to peek back under the covers and hibernate. However, maintaining an exercise routine throughout the winter offers tangible health benefits.

1. You burn more calories.
   As the body works harder to regulate its core temperature and maintain heat in the elements, you’ll burn a few more calories during your wintry workout compared to one conducted indoors. While the calorie burn varies with each person’s body mass and the extremity of the temperature, it can be a nice morale booster to get more out of your workout.
2. Your endurance performance increases.
   Whether you like to walk, run or bike, the heat and humidity of summer can make it difficult to up your intensity or mileage. Winter, on the other hand, makes it a lot easier to handle since you aren’t subject to the same stresses. And don’t think you can get away with the old excuse that the cold air is bad for your lungs because it just isn’t true. By challenging yourself in the cold weather, you are strengthening your heart, lungs and circulatory system, thereby improving your overall health. However, if you have asthma or another lung disease, please check in with your health care provider before embarking on an outdoor adventure.
3. You’ll feel happier and more energized.
   Working out in the winter can help fight seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD can affect as many as 20 percent of Americans who find themselves with severe to mild depression during the cold months. One of the best ways to combat this blah feeling it to get moving.

Cold-weather exercise can boost your mood, thanks to the lack of humidity, which creates that heavy air feeling in the summer months. The cold also stimulates your parasympathetic system. The sympathetic system is known as the “fight or flight” response while the parasympathetic system is known as the “relax and renew” system. Endorphins can trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that will leave you with a stronger sense of happiness and lightness following a workout in the cold.

4. You’ll strengthen your heart.
   Cold weather also makes the heart work harder to distribute blood throughout the body. But a regular exerciser with cardiovascular endurance can make their heart muscle even stronger with these cold-weather sessions, better preparing the body for more strenuous workouts in the future – not to mention other non-exercise stresses in life.
5. You’ll get a dose of vitamin D.
   Being outside and taking in more sun during the daylight hours helps keep your mind sharp as well as increasing your body’s manufacturing of vitamin D. The relative benefit also feels more substantial in the wintertime since the amount of natural light is already so restricted.
6. You’ll boost your immune system.
   Every winter brings a new round of nasty sick spells, which most people blame on the cold weather. It’s a common misconception that being in the cold can give you a cold, but it’s not true. In fact, exercise is one of the best ways to strengthen your immune system. Staying cooped up inside may expose you to more people who may be harboring this season’s latest cold, so getting away from all those folks may reduce your chances of catching the same bug.
7. You’ll maintain your fitness.
   Those with gym memberships struggle to use them as much as they intend when the weather’s pleasant, so they’re unlikely to do much better once a trip there means venturing into the cold. A short break can easily stretch into a prolonged one. This period of detraining can lead to aerobic loss in just a few weeks, and muscular strength begins to diminish after about four weeks as well. Maintain your routine this winter, and spring workouts will be a lot less of a chore.

Exercisers are often concerned about the internal safety hazards that come along with chilly sweat sessions, but there is surprisingly little to worry about. Simply suiting up appropriately with enough layers made of moisture-wicking fabrics keeps the body at a healthy temperature and functioning the same way it would in any other workout environment.

Here are some simple tips for safely exercising in the cold:

• Make sure you hydrate before, during and after your workout. When your body is exposed to the cold, it impacts the circulatory system, causing blood flow to go more to the core of your body. As a result, your thirst can decrease, which can cause you to get dehydrated faster.
• Wear layers that you can peel off as necessary. This can help guard against hypothermia, which is when your body temperature dips below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Shivering is a sign that your body could develop hypothermia if you do not go back inside. Once hypothermia progresses, the body stops shivering.
• Wear a hat, gloves, scarf and thick socks to adequately insulate your extremities. The face, fingers and toes are the first to have affected circulation and experience frostbite. Pain or tingling in your ears, fingers or toes is usually a sign it’s time to come indoors and warm up.
• Don’t overexert yourself. Since your body is working harder to maintain its temperature, it is easier to experience negative effects if you work out too hard. Plus, if you have not been exercising outside and suddenly decide to start exercising in the cold, it can be dangerous because it creates extra demand and work for your body. This can increase the risk of a heart attack. Even activities like shoveling snow can cause overexertion. Signs of overexertion include:
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Chest discomfort or pain
  • Feeling clumsy (stumbling, having difficulties with coordination)
• Beware of ice. Especially watch out for black ice, which is more difficult to see. Ice makes it easier to slip and fall. Common injuries because of ice include wrist, head and tailbone injuries.
• Make sure cars can see you if you must run or walk in the street due to a snow-packed or icy sidewalk.

When you go back inside from working out in the cold, it is best to take off any wet layers and warm up a bit before taking a hot shower.

When the thermometer or wind chill goes below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, the risk of frostbite goes up dramatically, making it possible to get frostbite in 30 minutes or less of working out. As a result, exercising outside below 0 degrees Fahrenheit is not recommended. If it’s above 0 degrees and you have trained outside before, get outside, get moving and enjoy the extra benefits a cold-weather workout has to offer.

UofL Health is Here for You

Turn to UofL Health – Sports Medicine for the area’s leading sports medicine physicians and orthopedics, advanced diagnostics, UofL Health – Frazier Rehab Sports and convenient urgent care and emergency care locations. As the official health care provider of the University of Louisville Cardinals, Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC, we know that an active lifestyle is important to you and we want to ensure you stay healthy to enjoy it.

If you believe you may be experiencing signs of dehydration, frostbite, hypothermia or exertion, or if you slip and fall on ice, call 911 or visit a UofL Health – Emergency Department.