Five Tips for Staying Warm during a Winter Workout

Preserving body heat is an extremely important skill for people who work out during winter. Hypothermia, frostbite, pneumonia and other cold weather health conditions can be avoided by staying warm. Here are five tips that'll help you keep your body heat, even in the freezing cold.

==> Tip #1: Start with a Good Indoor Warm-Up

Before you step out into the cold, do a good warm-up indoors. Get your heart racing and boost your body heat.

Do jumping jacks, run on the spot, jump imaginary ropes, do push-ups and other such exercises. By the time you step out into the cold, you already want to be feeling like it's too hot inside.

==> Tip #2: Layer, Layer, Layer

You're much better off layering several different layers of clothing than wearing one big jacket. Multiple layers of clothing trap heat better, as well as prevent moisture inside. You can also take off different layers of clothing should you get a little too hot outside.

That said, you should still wear a jacket on top of all your layers. The jacket you wear should be water resistant, so snow can't melt and get in.

==> Tip #3: Use a Heart Rate Monitor

Most people gauge how hard they're working out by how much they've sweat. Most of the time, this can be a decent gauge. In winter however, it's completely inaccurate.

Sweat is designed to help cool your body heat. In spring, fall and summer, that's exactly what sweat does. But in winter, sweating actually conducts coldness and causes you to lose more body heat.

Your body wisely sweats less when you work out in winter. Instead of using sweat to gauge your workout intensity, buy a heart rate monitor. Calculate your maximum heart rate and try to stay at about 80% intensity.

==> Tip #4: Work Out in the Daylight

Don't underestimate the amount of heat sunlight on your skin can generate. Even if the temperature outside is the same day and night, you'll feel a lot warmer when you have the sun on your skin.

==> Tip #5: Wait before Taking Clothes Off

Don't take all your exercise clothes off the moment you get indoors. You might feel like the room is a lot warmer, but your body still hasn't adjusted yet. Give your body 5 to 10 more minutes in your workout clothes to build up heat.

If you take all your clothes off right away, you can lose a lot of heat, almost like a vacuum sucking the heat out of your body. It can cause a shock to the system.

Follow these five tips and you'll be able to use your own body heat to stay warm, even when you're working out in freezing cold weather.

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Warren Tattersall has been a full time nutritional consultant for over a decade and works with people all over the world to help them improve their health, increase their personal energy levels and to use supplements to assist with diet related health issues.

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