SubscribeAfraid of Cold Weather Exercise?
Many people find it challenging enough to stick to their outdoor exercise plans when the weather's nice. But what if you don't have access to a gym and it's really cold outside? Can't it be dangerous to go out in frigid temperatures?
The surprising answer, is: nope, it's never too cold to exercise outdoors. At least not according to researchers who've studied this question.
Safe At Minus Fifty Degrees?
John Castellani is an exercise physiologist, and was lead author of a position paper on exercise and cold weather published by the American College of Sports Medicine. In a recent interview with the New York Times (registration may be required), Dr. Castellani argued that it's never too cold to go outside to exercise. “People go to the poles, people are out there when it’s minus-50 degrees, people do incredible things, and safely. There really isn’t a point where you can tell people it is not safe anymore.”
While the ACSM paper and the New York Times article do acknowledge some safety issues, these apparently shouldn't keep most exercisers at home. And they try to dispel several myths about outdoor exercise.
What About Hypothermia?
So don't people die of hypothermia when they're out in extreme weather? Well, not if you keep some advice in mind:
- Keep moving: You'll generate much more body heat this way. The position paper points out there is a large difference in body heat loss between heavy exercise and light exercise.
- Watch out for wind and wet conditions: The ACSM paper notes that even when temperatures aren't as extreme, swimmers and those exercising in the rain can experience considerable body heat loss.
- Don't wear too much--you'll sweat if you're overdressed. “You should feel cool before you start exercising,” Dr. Castellani said. “You should not feel comfortable.” (God forbid).
It's suggested you take proper medications and wear "a balaclava,” so your exhaled breath can moisten the air you breathe. (A balaclava is "a knit cap for the head and neck," according to Mirriam-Webster, even though it sounds a lot like baklava, which is a very tasty dessert but won't help you much with your breathing).
What About Frostbite?
Do make sure you don't expose your extremities to cold temperatures for long periods of time. Frostbite sets in when skin temperature drops to about 27 degrees fahrenheit.
But What if You're Just Not Used to the Cold?
Researchers claim it's a myth is that you have to acclimatize to cold weather; they say there is very little adaptation to cold over time.
Some of us spoiled Californians who shiver when the thermometer goes much below 60 degrees may find ourselves skeptical. Does that mean we can't blame our "thin blood' and are just cold weather wimps?
Well, as a wimpy Californian, I have to admit this quote in the Times article gave me pause. Timothy Noakes, another exercise physiologist, said: "Even in temperatures as low as ten to minus-20 degrees, a runner probably needs to wear no more than a track suit, mittens or gloves and a hat."
Minus 20 degrees? In just a track suit? Sorry, no thanks. But what do other people think about getting out there in really cold weather?
I've never run in sub-zero temperatures but I did run consitently at temps in the 10-20ºF range while still in the Air Force in the 80s. We used to go on temporary duty for Red Flag exercises and would stay in a contract hotel in Tonopah, Nevada. We had access to a health club that opened at 7am so I would park in their lot and try to time the run so that I got back just as they opened the doors. When I got back, I would take a shower, and then jump in the jacuzzi. It was great!!
While on this subject, let me interject something concerning what has been this blog's hottest topic as of late--Gary Taubes' book. I'm obviously a fan--but not a fanboy. There is one part of his summary that I have some trouble with. It's his statement that exercise doesn't make you lose weight--it just makes you hungry. I understand it in the big sense. He mentions that telling obese people that they need to eat less and exercise more doesn't work. But I had no trouble maintaining my weight when I was a 40-50 mile a week runner. I don't do that anymore but I do include interval workouts on the bike or rowing machine at least a couple times a week, and I take long walks at a decent pace. I lost 30 pounds in three months but then I sustained a hip injury that curtialed my exercise. The weight loss slowed to a trickle. But I'm back on course now and the weight is coming off again, but I don't feel like I'm eating any more than I was when I wasn't exercising. I think part of it depends on the kind of exercise. I know when I used to do real long, hard, bike rides, I was famished at the end (I bonked one time and it was a terrible experience). But short, intense workouts seem to help with the fat loss without the resulting increase in hunger/food craving.
ReplyEvery morning, I walk 5 minutes to the gym. I wear a very light sweatshirt and shorts. I freeze my buns off! But then I run for 30 mins at the gym, and I can easily walk back home without wearing my sweatshirt (just my running shirt). You'd be surprised how you can adapt to the cold after a little bit of exercise.
ReplyWhen I got home from the gym the other day, there was a driveway to be shoveled. It took about 15 min in 10 degree cold, and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. No problemo. The body will make its own heat if you move vigorously enough.
ReplyGym membership. Compared to running outside, I hate the treadmill. I hate the cold even more though.
ReplyI remember going for a jog on a chilly Boxing Day (2006) and though my body quickly warmed up, my throat/nose hurt from gulping in cold air. Does that happen to anyone else?
ReplyThere is something called ice outside in cold weather. Do you want to slip on it?
ReplyI live in the desert, where it rarely gets below 25-30 degrees even on winter nights, but when you have the wind blowing (which we usually do) on top of that, it can feel like it's 10 below--and this is coming from someone who used to live in Nebraska. For me it's not about whether it's safe or not, it's about my lungs painfully protesting anytime I try to exercise in freezing weather. I'm okay walking in it, but running? No way. I suppose that most of us could get used to it if we had to, but I'll just keep my exercise indoors for now. There's a reason I have a punching bag and a good sized library of exercise DVD's.
ReplyTry a balaclava -
Replyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava
It would be interesting to know where the author of this article lives. I live in central Canada where it is minus 40 - 50C depending on the current windchill.
We know how to dress for the weather here, but there comes a time when you just have to use common sense. Even with a Balaclava.. in those kinds of sub zero temperatures your lungs can freeze and as well exposed skin can freeze in less than a minute.
This article is dangerous.
ReplyI understand the point of this article, but personally it would take a lot to get me outside in ten or twenty degree weather when I can go to the gym at school. I've always felt colder than the people around me and my body temperature is lower than the average. I wear pants year-round and have a pretty good track record of long-sleeve shirts in the summer. Good for those people who can and do make it outside in the winter, but unless it is like shoveling the aforementioned snow while wearing three shirts, a coat, hat, scarf, and gloves, I am not outside at all in the winter.
ReplyI would just like to add, today they are shutting down the freight trains, because officials are worried that the steel wheels would shatter from the extreme cold.
Still wanna exercise outside in -40C? lol
ReplyI really like to walk, and I've discovered in our Canadian winters that colder is better, to a point. On a 0 Celcius day (right at freezing) I am comfortable when I walk out the door but usually shedding layers by the time I've gone 2 blocks. I actually enjoy it when it's a little colder, and I'm happy right until it drops below
-10C. (Below -15 I get a little wimpy though and usually move the exercise indoors.) But I'm dressed for it and I always have a hat and gloves with me. I can be warm on a cold day with a light coat, running pants as long as I have my hat and gloves.
The bigger hazard for me is the danger of slipping on ice because people don't clear their sidewalks properly. I've been forced inside because of that more often than cold. Because of our warm chinook winds we go through a lot of thawing/freezing through the winter and that makes for ice.
ReplyI couldn't start the car the other day to get my son from the bus stop so I walked the 7 blocks there in minus 30C temp, -47C with the windchill. I dressed for it and I was fine. I rather enjoyed it. -47C is the same as -53 F for you farenheit types. I'm not that hardy, though - the cold front only lasted 4 days and that's about all of it I could take before packing up heading for Mexico.
But of course REAL man exercises in -40 and pays no heed to ice patches. I mean what's a broken skull between friends? Broken skull = MORE OF A MAN!!!
ReplyI took a 'brisk' (read: bloody freezing!) walk just down the road to our grocery store for some veggies. It was 30F, hmm, warm and sunny huh? Add a windchill and you get about 10F + pounding earache, chapped lips, and whenever you take any REAL breaths that are capable of supplying your body with the oxygen it needs, you end up feeling frozen from the inside out in your lungs and throat.
Yeah. I'll wait 'til it's a still, 45F+ day, thanks.
ReplyIt's ok, freezing walks are only for real men. At least that's what Kailash says.
ReplyI love to hike and for the past couple of years, I have not let winter stop me as it did in the past. Not only has my overall health improved, but I also have the added benefit of not being as impacted by winter as I have in the past. Being out in the elements seems to allowed me to "climatize" more easily.
If you can afford it, get the gear and get outside. It is easier if you keep your routine up as the weather gets progressively colder rather than just starting out after winter has been going on for a month or so.
ReplyI remember reading in National Geographic a few years back about a 300 lb Eskimo (or whatever they are called in Greenland). He was sweating his ass of on a warm winter's day (-40 to -50 degrees F), while dragging a seal carcass on a sled, and had to strip off his furs he was so warm. The reporter was still cold.
Now, whether that had to do with not wearing as nice of furs, not dragging a seal carcass, or not being acclimated, I'll leave that up to you. But the fact of the matter is that nobody's lungs froze, and they lived to tell about it.
Now, I can't say for myself how I'd tolerate such cold, because it only gets down to -10 degrees F where I live (-23 C). But that isn't much of a problem. I just wear a scarf if I'm going to be outside for long.
ReplyKailash, that little thing about Eskimos being acclimated since BIRTH to that climate just MIGHT have a little to do with it. You should use your brain a bit more, and tone down the MACHO stuff.
ReplyThis makes me feel better. I've always wondered about training in the cold. It's never really bothered me, other than when first starting a run, but in Ohio we always have wind chill advisories, and I've wondered if I should ever heed the warnings ... I never have.
The funny thing is, I sometimes run in pants with a Dri Fit shirt and jacket, and I'm plenty warm. This past week it's been in the 20s with windchills in single digits and even in the negative teens, and I'm still sweating by the time I'm done with my run. On the flip side, I have finished before though, and my mouth has been half paralyzed because of the numbing air blowing against it while running. Gotta love when that happens. Thanks for finding this paper!
ReplyI run outside in the winter all the time. I live in Wisconsin and I'm pretty used to temps in the -10 to -20 degree range (although it's damn cold, lol). As long as I wear the right clothes (usually some windpants, a dri-fit shirt, and a fleece overshirt, plus gloves and a warm hat, I'm fine. I usually opt to work out inside though, only because it's just nicer and I don't have to deal with icky slushy streets or ice from people not shoveling.
ReplyNo reason why you really have to heed wind chill warnings to the point of staying inside, they don't mean anything more than you will experience the weather as colder than the thermometer says. So if you're still comfortable, you're breathing ok, then it's ok to be outside doing your activity, windchill or not. When it no longer feels ok, come in. And different people will feel that at different temperatures, for a bunch of reasons that everyone's covered. I'm coming in at -15C. And Kailash will be out in his skivvies shovelling snow and dragging dead seals with the Inuit, lol.
ReplyI've never let cold weather stop my running. I will wear as many layers of clothes as I need to feel warm. I don't care if I do look like the Pillsbury Dough boy. I hate cold.
ReplyThis has got me thinking more about acclimitization, though. In summer, if we get a bad cold snap, say it's 15 C (60 C) then I think it's too cold to go for a walk. I'm looking for sweaters, heavy jackets, hats. But in Fall, I consider that a great autumn day to go for a walk, light jacket. And when it hits 15 in winter, it's celebration time, and off come the coats.
The first day of the awful cold snap we just had I couldn't stand to walk to the car. The third day, I was content to go for a walk. Yesterday, when it warmed up five measly degrees, I thought I was in the tropics. It was still -25.
Replyi live in new york city, and i walk to the gym in shorts every time, unless there's a biting wind on top of air temperatures 20 degrees F or less. i wear a jacket on top to be reasonable, but my legs are completely bare. people think i'm crazy, but really, it's not bad at all.
ReplyGreat post, but a little late in the season for me too use. Its not so much that Im a wimpy little girl who doesn't want to be a little cold. My problem is that with the exacerbation of inflammation from my asthma caused my nose to plug up and the cold air burned in my throat and lungs. I will definately start looking for one of these to try so I can get back to my morning run.
ReplyI occasionally run in -40 weather and the only difference is I try to keep very little skin exposed.
ReplyToo bad you're not a guy, or Kailash could rag on you for not being a REAL MAN and ENJOYING the burning sensation!
ReplyI'm okay in the cold, as long as I've got good socks (the moment my feet sweat in not-so-good socks, they get really cold and miserable).
My husband can't handle the cold though. He gets earaches -- it takes a really bulky head cover to keep the wind out of them.
ReplyDang...you guys live in negative-20 degrees? I wouldn't last! But then again, I live in California and we're pretty wimpy because anything below 60 degrees is considered freezing...lol. Also, I have things called raynauds where my fingers and toes turn really numb and white when it's cold, then it'll turn blue then red and back to normal. I could never imagine living in the weather some people on here live in!
ReplyI love running and bicycling, but I admit I go to the trainer on the bike below 50 degrees, and running.. well, it doesn't get cold enough in GA to not make it out and I have no intentions of leaving the south. :)
ReplyI used to love hiking in the snow. If it wasn't too deep to require snowshoes, it was a lot of fun. It seemed like I got less of an impact while hiking down hill.
That was when I lived in Massachusetts, though. I now live in Alabama. I miss snow :(
ReplyAren't you in Florida Dr. J? I'm thinking back to a post of yours a while back. I could be thinking of someone else, though.
Replyhttp://www.fscip.org/tramp.html
ReplyI can't wait for some researchers to say this is wrong and then another set of researchers to say it is right....the circle jerk continues.
ReplyI go to school in the Chicago area and am on the distance track team. It's not as cold in chi-town as cannada but we have had several -20 windchill days and we still run outside. I have asthma and the dry air really kills my lungs even with a face mask, my doctor said to just run inside to avoid irritation.
ReplyBut all my teammates run outside every day, up to 16 miles at a time, and though one guy did get frostbite a year ago (he was being stupid not wearing earmuffs) everyone has been safe. Just watched the roads for ice and don't go for a fast run.
Also it's rare that any of use would wear more than hat, glove, turtle neck under Armour, a long sleeve shirt and a wind jacket, and a pair of tights with track pants (and only then of the most bitter cold days)
Of course one side will say that we all need to aerobic train in -40 weather for that instance when a serial killer has adducted us in northern Dakota and we need to escape to civilization. You know, survival scenarios...
ReplyI run every morning at 5:20ish am. It's dark when I leave and still dark an hour later. It's been between 10-18 deg. most days,plus the windchill. I"m really looking forward to Spring!BUT...I'm always warm enough in winter tights, long sleeve underarmour shirt and a fleece shirt. (and,duh, hat and gloves) My face can get numb but my lungs have never burned or felt uncomfortable in any way. It's worth it to not have to run on an indoor track! p.s. to all you Raynaud sufferers out there....MITTENS!! I cried for 10 minutes a while back because my fingers hurt so bad...then I finally took some advice and wore windproof ski mittens. WOW, all the difference in the world! (I also wear sock liners under my socks...feet are always warm)
ReplyI run every morning at 5:20ish am. It's dark when I leave and still dark an hour later. It's been between 10-18 deg. most days,plus the windchill. I"m really looking forward to Spring!BUT...I'm always warm enough in winter tights, long sleeve underarmour shirt and a fleece shirt. (and,duh, hat and gloves) My face can get numb but my lungs have never burned or felt uncomfortable in any way. It's worth it to not have to run on an indoor track! p.s. to all you Raynaud sufferers out there....MITTENS!! I cried for 10 minutes a while back because my fingers hurt so bad...then I finally took some advice and wore windproof ski mittens. WOW, all the difference in the world! (I also wear sock liners under my socks...feet are always warm)
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