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Winter still a good time for outdoor exercise
By David Steinkraus
There really isn't any reason you can't keep exercising outdoors, even now.
You can walk. You can run. You can ride your bicycle. You can fight those pounds that appear after holiday feasting. All you need to do is dress for the weather and keep a few precautions in mind.
"Actually, heat causes more stress than cold does," said Dan Debehnke, 44, a professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He runs triathlons, which requires cycling and running all the time and in all seasons.
There are two main problems related to winter exercise, he said. One is the increased time required to get warm, and the other is exposure to the cold.
In the first case, cold muscles are more prone to injury, Debehnke said. "Especially as you get older, it's important to stretch and warm up." That's particularly important during cold weather, he said.
Michele Kobriger, 40, of Racine, likes stretching and loves yoga. So she stretches inside before she runs and then inside after. A friend of hers never does and has had no problems, Kobriger said.
"That was a humbling experience. And now I know what people were talking about because I thought I was indestructible."
She had to stay off her foot for a month, but as a nurse that wasn't possible for her, so she hobbled.
"Now I really pay attention," she said. At the first twinge of a problem, she'll walk home rather than push her body and risk another long struggle with injury.
Prolonged exposure to cold raises the danger of frostbite - frozen fingers or toes. Hypothermia - the condition in which your body temperature is 95 degrees or lower - isn't a risk for outdoor exercisers, Debehnke said. "It occurs in people who for some reason can't get out of the cold."
Into the wind
There are other nuisances that afflict people who exercise during the winter.
"Some people have tendency to develop a cold-induced asthma," Debehnke said. Exposure to cold air makes the bronchial tubes more reactive, and you may start wheezing. Your physician can supply you with an inhaler to use before you go outside and run. "I mean, that's what I do before I go and run," he said.
Mike DeWitt's first advice to the runners he coaches at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside is to run into the wind. If you underdress for the weather, it's easier to run home for more clothing when the wind is at your back; and if you work up a sweat, you're not as cold running home with the wind on your back, he said.
The reason for this, according to Debehnke, is that you sweat early on during your exercise, and if you move into the wind on the way home, there's a wind chill effect on your wet body that cools it quickly.
Dressing up
When you dress for the outdoors, outdoor athletes say, dress so you're just a bit cool when you step outside. Exercise will warm you up. How heavily you dress depends on what you're doing - walking or cross-country skiing, which is highly aerobic - and is more art than science.
The best dressing is in layers: one next to the skin to wick away perspiration, then an insulating layer such as cotton, and last a windproof layer.
"I've done some 20- 30-milers when it's 0 (degrees) out, and no ill effects," DeWitt said.
He doesn't care for modern fabrics advertised as keeping you dry in any conditions. "I don't even like Gore-tex myself. It's too hot."
Expensive running clothing - lightweight and able to wick moisture away from your body - is worth the money, Kobriger said. "If you wear all cotton, it gets heavy and wet. It doesn't work. You start cooling down and you get cold."
Dressing for walking, which she has done for 19 years, is different. A thick fleece hat and gloves are fine.
On the bike
Cyclists, Debehnke said, often have trouble keeping their feet warm. It may seem counterintuitive because of the amount of work their legs do, but Debehnke said cyclists' feet just sit on the pedals and thus are prone to being chilled. The same is true for the rest of the cyclist because their motion generates a breeze and thus exposes them to the effect of wind chill.
Eric Haney, 33, of Racine, feels that all the time as he commutes to and from work by bike.
He has lighter leather gloves for chilly weather, expensive insulated gloves for cold weather, a balaclava for his face and booties to cover his shoes, but what really relieved him of aches was his pair of $12 ski goggles. In three to five minutes his muscles would warm, but the wind generated by his motion bothered his eyes. "Your eyes just start burning and you've got a headache."
Important fluids
Remember to keep your fluid intake up, too. "You can get as easily dehydrated in winter as you can in the summer," Debehnke said.
If you're out for more than an hour, it's probably a good idea to take a beverage with you, he said, and if you're out more than a couple of hours consider a sports drink. At that point you'll need to replace electrolytes, the salts and ions that make your muscles work among other things.
Kobriger typically runs for an hour at a time. "I drink a lot of water as soon as I get back, just regular, plain old water."
Keep your feet
With all the attention to your body, don't forget your footing. This the season when pavement is slippery, when what looks like a puddle may be ice, Debehnke said.
"I can walk in different places than I run. If you hit ice when you're running your history," Kobriger said.
But when you do get out there, it's a different world. "In the winter when you're out there, it's quieter," Kobriger said. It's a good time and place to reflect and to escape the pressures of daily life.
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| Health and Fitness File - 07-28 -04 | Health and Fitness File - updated 12-29-04 |
