How to Stay Active in the Winter

With cold temperatures, icy roads, and short daylight hours, it’s easy to find excuses to stay indoors during the winter. Perhaps that’s why Americans on average Approximately 30 minutes shorter Daily physical activity during this period.

But not everyone has a choice. Elite winter athletes and military personnel in northern garrisons continue to operate no matter how low the mercury levels are. The scientists who work with them continue to learn new things about how to operate safely, effectively, and even comfortably.

Here’s what their latest research can tell us about staying active outdoors during the winter.

They will get used to the cold.

Fortunately, the sensation of temperature changes with the seasons. “When you first breathe in cold air, you feel terrible,” said John Castellani, a physiologist at the U.S. Army Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts. “Then in March, the temperatures are the same and it feels like it’s time to go golfing.”

Dr. Castellani says these changes begin to occur within about 10 days after exposure. But that’s just the surface: you. feel Although the cold is reduced, in most cases there is no improvement in raising core body temperature or keeping the extremities warm.

Military researchers have made great efforts to help soldiers adapt to winter weather, but with little success. A few people, such as polar swimmer Lewis Pugh, have shown exceptional cold tolerance, but they appear to be outliers. “I don’t dispute that they can do it,” says Stephen Chan, an environmental physiologist at Canada’s Brock University. “But I don’t think there are lessons we can learn from them and apply to ourselves.”