Staying Active In The Winter
December 28, 2019 Posted in: ASK AN EXPERT
The cold can be a significant barrier for many in terms of getting out and staying active. The truth is that for many it can derail solid progress toward health and wellness in your exercise routine. Winter is present for — at least, in theory — a quarter of the year. If maintaining your exercise and movement goals is an important part of life, you must determine how to work with the cold, not against it. First understand how the cold can help you in your goals, and second, how to prepare properly for it. Then be on your wintery way.
Start Here
Get clear for yourself as to your motivating factors — why are you exercising in the first place? Why is it important to you? What do you feel like when you follow through with your exercise routine? How does it help your body, health and life? The more specific you are, the better these answers will serve you. When it gets a hard look at the specific reasons as to why you’re asking yourself to do it, connect to your purpose. Clarity is the first law of success.
Get clear on the benefits of exercising in the cold weather. When you understand that cold weather exercise offers a different set of benefits, it can be easier to pull from that motivation as well.
Burn more calories – Who doesn’t want that? Your body has to work harder to stabilize its core body temperature; while it is working harder to do so, it requires more calories to do that job. So get out there in the cold times!
Strengthen your heart – Again, who doesn’t want a stronger heart? Your heart has to work harder to pump and distribute blood throughout the body. When you go outside in the colder weather, it’s more difficult from the get-go. When you then add to that the stress of the exercise, it calls the heart to work even harder. If this is done with consistency, the heart gets stronger because it is regularly being called to work more efficiently under healthily stressful situations.