Do cold, cloudy, snowy, or rainy days keep you inside? Are you waiting for warm, sunny weather to get you outdoors and get you more lively? You're in good company, in that case. But there are methods to get you outside and moving within the coldest temperatures. And staying lively is important to good health at any age.
Are you feeling housebound?
I get the weather forecast almost every day from my daughter who lives in Washington, DC. For the past few months, the report has generally run like this: “Freezing, arctic winds, some snow, more snow likely, snow, cold, and very cold.”
It's not that she doesn't benefit from the winter months, but the tough weather keeps her stuck inside. She is a runner and enjoys mountain climbing nearby trails, and the bitter cold puts her enthusiasm on the ice.
Add in her distant job and the shadow of COVID, and it makes staying at home so much easier. Sure, she has kettlebells and resistance bands, and she or he does home workouts for some exercise. But it's not the identical.
Like countless others, my daughter has trouble being lively outside when prolonged forecasts call for gloomy weather. I’m guilty too. I enjoy open water swimming in Florida, where I live, but when the bay water drops below 70 degrees, even with a wetsuit, I stay on the beach.
So, what are you able to do to warm up the cold weather until spring and summer fully arrive and you possibly can return to your usual outdoor living space? Here are three suggestions.
Join a fitness group.
You are usually not alone in your cold war, and there may be strength in numbers. Join a walking or running group or other outdoor activity with team members. You're more prone to step out and show up when others depend upon your participation.
This fitness tribe approach has helped me, as I recently joined an open water swimming group. My group encourages me to come back for evening and morning swims that I’d otherwise skip.
Set a spring goal.
Nothing motivates greater than a good deadline. Sign up for a race, enroll for a couch potato 5K program, or book an lively adventure trip for May or beyond. Thus, you’ll have to exit more to remain physically fit. My daughter recently signed up for a half marathon, so she has to start out putting on her trainers. Also, making a financial investment (and never wanting to waste money) is an extra motivation.
Embrace the cold.
Instead of hiding from the cold, brave it and take up a cold-weather activity like skiing (downhill or cross-country), snowshoeing, skating, or hack, even the favourite TV event of the 2022 Winter Olympics: curling. This approach helps in two ways: it offers a brand new challenge and allows you to interact more with the cold weather, so it feels less intimidating.
Many of those activities are equal to and even higher than traditional warm-weather aerobic exercise. For example, A review of multiple studies Skiing was found to supply the identical cardio advantages as indoor cycling. If you select to try latest cold-weather activities, your brain can profit, too.
Exercising in cold weather can improve certain points of your fitness, comparable to increasing your endurance.