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Fight back, get fit and beat winter!
Exercising in the cold comes with health risks. Injury and, in some cases hypothermia, can be unwelcomed consequences of cool-weather workouts. But, perhaps an even greater problem is the tendency not to exercise at all when the temperature plummets.
“In general, the biggest trend we … see is that people tend to exercise less in the winter months because it’s colder and harder to get motivated,” says Physiotherapist and Clinical Pilates Instructor Michael Dermansky.
Indeed, UK research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in 2016 shows that kids' physical activity habits drop from a peak of 65 minutes per day in spring to 48 minutes in winter. A similar tendency can be seen among adults with a 2011 Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index showing that “Americans typically exercise more in the spring and summer and less in [autumn] and winter”.
“The result,” according to Mr Dermansky “is reduced fitness and strength and a resurgence of ‘energy’ in spring … to get ready for summer”.
“This is when injuries occur; when there has been a loss of strength and fitness in winter and over-activity in spring,” he says.
