You Can Do It! Stay Active in Cold Weather

When the weather is cold or snowy, it's easy to stop being physically active. How can you stay focused on your workouts during cold-weather months? Keep motivated, explore new exercise options and make sure you dress properly if you exercise outdoors.

Stay Motivated

Even if, despite your best intentions, you don't exercise as much as you did before the cold set in, that's okay. The goal is just to do as much activity as you can to maintain your physical, mental and emotional fitness.

When it's time to choose between keeping your exercise date or breaking it, think of these reasons to keep moving:

•  Exercise is good for your health. For disease prevention, reducing stress and managing your weight, it's important to keep exercising!

•  Exercise is good for your mood. Physical activity is a great way to beat the winter blues.

Explore Different Exercise Choices

When the weather is cold, you might not be able to perform your usual activities. It's a great time to try new exercise options! Mixing some new activities with into your routine also can keep you motivated. Some suggestions for cold-weather months:

•  Outdoor Activities. In many place winter months offer the opportunity to try exhilarating, high-energy activities like cross-country or downhill skiing or snowboarding. Being outdoors on crisp, blue-sky days is a great mood-booster, too.

•  Indoor/Facility Activities. If you usually exercise outside, try indoor activities at a fitness facility. Take a walk at a local mall. Sample some workouts you've been curious about - maybe yoga, martial arts classes, indoor swimming or boxing aerobics. This is a great time for Preferred Care members to try a You're In Charge!SM class. Click Here for a list of classes.

•  At-Home Activities. When cold weather keeps you indoors, be ready with some simple, inexpensive exercise options - a couple of small free weights, a jump rope or rubber resistive equipment, such as Dyna-Bands or tubing. Exercise videos, music tapes and CDs also can keep you motivated.

Prepare Yourself for Cold-Weather Outdoor Activities

When exercising outside, you want to make sure you avoid hypothermia (dangerously low body temperature) and frostbite. Also, cold exposure, while not usually life threatening, can certainly ruin your outdoor exercise activities. Here are some tips from the American College of Sports Medicine:

•  Layer Clothes. The clothes next to your skin should wick away moisture and protect you from the wind. Look at clothing labels for fabrics such as polypropylene, Dryline and wool to wick away moisture, and Gore-Tex and Activent outerwear for wind protection.

•  Cover Your Head. You can lose a lot of body heat if your head is uncovered. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

•  Protect Your Hands and Feet. Your hands and feet are the farthest points from your heart and the least insulated. Wool or polypropylene socks are a good choice for warmth and to wick moisture from your feet. Look for shoes or boots with a water-resistant outer covering and soles that provide traction. Protect your hands from extreme cold by adding a glove liner to help keep your hands dryer and warmer.

Stay Safe

Here are more some ideas to keep you safe as you enjoy winter exercise.

•  Start slow. Don't forget to stretch and warm up. It's OK to feel a little chilly when you start exercising outdoors in the cold. You'll soon warm up. But if you go outdoors and you're already perspiring, you can get chilled very quickly.

•  Make sure you're visible. Days are shorter in the winter, so if you walk or run before or after work, it may be dark outside . Exercise in daylight, if possible. If it's too cold or icy, head inside for a different physical activity. If you choose to walk at dusk or at night, wear reflective clothing so that drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians can see you. Anticipate that drivers may not be able to stop quickly.

•  Head into the wind. End your workout - when you're likely to be the sweatiest - with the wind at your back. That way you can avoid frostbite on uncovered areas of your face, which might be covered with perspiration.

•  Drink plenty of fluids. Even in cold weather you need to drink plenty of water.

•  Talk to your doctor. Some medical conditions make working out in the cold unsafe. Exercising in cold weather can bring on heart-related chest pain (angina). It can also trigger asthma in some people. Wearing a face mask or a scarf over your mouth can warm the air that enters your lungs. Older adults and those who are fairly inactive should talk to a doctor before beginning an exercise program.