Guest Post by Lisa Green with Intro by Crabby McSlacker You see the happy face of the winter exerciser pictured above? That's your first clue Crabby McSlacker didn't write this post. She is a cowardly snowbird who flees to warmer climates when it gets cold. And she figured a winter picture of her exercising while holding a pina colada on a beach lined with palm trees might not be all that motivating to people in more northerly climates. (Though hell, with this winter's weird weather, you too may be donning your swimsuits and reaching for tropical cocktails). But guess what? It turns out outdoor cold-weather exercising comes with some side benefits you may not know about. This might be way more helpful to your motivation during sucky winter weather than anything Crabby might suggest. Lisa Green writes for Gym Person where you can find useful training tips and resources. But never fear, Crabby will be back either later this week or early next week, you never know with her. See you soon! --Crabby
You can’t be blamed for wanting to ride out the winter season and get back in shape come spring. Or maybe you are even that kind of person that regardless of season prefers to workout at home rather than outdoors.
Regardless of how or where you like to train, you would be wasting an incredible opportunity if you let the winter slip away.
For people willing to brave the elements during the winter months; the cold temperatures and low humidity can turbo-charge your training and torch body fat to give you a beach-ready body in time for summer.
Keep reading to learn all the benefits of cold weather workouts!
Life is more challenging for bicyclists in the winter.
Obligatory warning: This post is rife with video clips. (Okay, three clips, but that's rife in my book.) With each clip, a text explanation has been provided for those who might be bandwidth-impaired or attention-challenged, or who simply don't like watching videos on a blog.
It is possible to bicycle in the snow. But if you really want to try it, we recommend a trip to Alaska. Bicycling in snow, or over ice, is not really recommended when you're in traffic. (Ever try to put chains on a bike?)
The trouble is, riding a stationary bike is the second most boring exercise ever invented. To keep riding while waiting for the weather to improve, a lot of cyclists spend the winter riding on rollers.
What are rollers?
Rollers are simply a metal frame that sits on the floor, with cylinders across the frame. When you put your bicycle onto this frame, the cylinders align with the wheels on the bike. You get on the bicycle and start pedaling, and the cylinders spin with the wheels. Basically, you're pedaling while staying still. Like a stationary bike, except really, really different.
Rollers are not the same as stationary bicycle riding. You have to concentrate on what you're doing. If you've ever watched someone try this for this first time, they're all over the place. Not only is this a lot more challenging than a stationary cycle, rollers make you a better cyclist. Assuming you can stay on them.
Riding on rollers -- how to do it
This rider shows how it's supposed to be done. Looks easy when he does it, right?
[TEXT: Man making riding rollers look very easy. So easy, in fact, that after a minute or so I zoned out. Recommended viewing time: 1 minute, unless you're really, really, really into the technical aspects of cycling.]
(I have to confess, even though I think this guy is really good at showing how you should ride rollers, I still couldn't watch this for the whole 10 minutes. Unless you're really into the minutiae of cycling, you might want to skip the last 9 minutes and 30 seconds of this video clip. Trust me, he doesn't fall off or doing anything silly, even if this is a YouTube video.)
Now look at this video of a newbie trying to ride rollers:
[TEXT: Man who clearly has not done this before. Spends most of the video riding with one hand clinging to the door post or falling to one side or the other. However, his girlfriend/spouse thinks he's doing a great job. (Call me cynical, but I suspect if the woman were a sister she would have gotten bored and stopped filming him after his first few attempts.) He does get the hang of it, for the most part. I found that encouraging.]
Rollers can be the same sort of daredevil escapade -- don't do it like this cyclist:
[TEXT: Man acting silly while riding on rollers ("Dad, you are such a dork," a young voice says off-camera) with music in the background.]
(It took almost the full five minutes, but I finally did laugh at one of his attempted stunts. Don't try this stuff with your eyes closed.)
So what's the point of riding with rollers? Just to entertain your friends & family?
Riding on rollers instead of on a stationary bicycle can make you a much better cyclist:
Rollers help you develop a smooth cadence. A smooth cadence means your legs are working more effectively; you're not wasting energy pushing to the side, or making jerky start-and-stop/push-and-coast movements. Because the least jerkiness results in noticeable wavering, you get instant feedback to improve your movements.
Rollers really help you improve your balance. Like riding a bicycle on the road, you're using your muscles to keep upright. You end up making little correcting motions throughout the ride. (Or really large, wild correcting motions, depending on your skills.)
Doing this clipped in, i.e. with your feet clamped to the pedals, is, in my opinion, insane. At least until you get the hang of it.
One of the more depressing aspects of winter is the thought that you're losing your edge, your fitness and ability while you're cooped up indoors. Rollers would be a great way to get ready for spring.
On the other hand, you might want to consider wearing a helmet when you're trying this, unless you're really confident about your balancing ability and superior reaction times. And don't let people follow you around with a video camera unless you want to end up on YouTube!
If it doesn't kill you, riding with rollers does improve your cycling skills. And it's not boring. You're too busy trying not to fall over to be bored.
This might seem a bit extreme, but it's one way to keep the winter blahs at bay. A helluva lot more exciting than a stationary bike.
Well -- how you do you plan to keep exercise interesting over the winter? Ski jumping?
You can look on the current economical climate as a terrible crisis or a wonderful opportunity. Or both simultaneously. Financial experts such as Warren Buffet or Motley Fool are saying this is a great time to buy stocks. That's probably true, though it doesn't help much if you've just lost your job because some idiot higher up the food chain has decided to panic and shut down your whole division.
Similarly, with all this cold weather, shorter days, longer nights, the northern hemisphere is getting into Summer-recession mode. It's more challenging to run around outside and exercise in the evening after work. There must be ways around this.
I've thought up a couple of ways to make sure I don't lose my exercise momentum.
What, I can't use a teaser like that? I'm trying to be more like Crabby. It works when she does it...
Trouble getting up in the morning?
Have trouble getting up in the morning? Try a light alarm like the bio-brite. The one I have, 15 minutes before the alarm time, the light starts to come on. (According to their website, it's not just an alarm clock, it's a "Quality Dawn Stimulator." So there.) The light gradually gets brighter, until at alarm time, it is bright enough to wake me up. At least in theory. Unless I'm really tired. If all else fails, an audio alarm will go off.
Other light alarms come with a scent feature, where a pre-selected scent such as cinnamon or coffee will progress from a faint whiff to a full-fledged smell. I think I'd feel cheated if I woke up smelling coffee and then had to go make it.
Too dark to go outside and run?
Not to get too cheerful or anything like that, but this blogger found she quite enjoyed running in the dark. Maybe once I get over my twisted-ankleophobia, I might try it.
Have you tried a headlamp? I've been looking into getting one of these. I figure that I might look like a geek, but at least I'd be a highly visible geek. Presumably the drivers won't get so distracted that they veer off the road when they pass by. There are a lot of brands, so it's hard to know which one to choose. However, the charmingly named Running with Slugs was quite impressed with his headlamp.
And if your dog is up for it, you can get your pet a pup-light, so that the other dogs and humans can see you coming. (I think this is a really practical idea for people who have to walk their pups at night in a non-streetlight environment. All the same, I think my dog would find it embarrassing. I tried to get her to wear a coat once; she was mortified. Things like this don't fit into her view of Proper Dog Attire.)
I looked to see if there were any good winter exercise tips out there. There's a lot of stuff about making sure to wear layers yeah, yeah but not much else.
One website recommended that if you want to exercise outdoors in the winter, move closer to a ski resort. Not especially helpful advice if I want to keep my job. (I wouldn't think most people could ski after work. How many ski resorts are close to major population sites? Any Denverites out there looking to brag?)
It also recommended not taking your clothes off after exercising. That's going to make the post-run shower a little strange, and it won't do much for my social life, but it will certainly avoid post-exercise hypothermia.
Probably once the weather gets positively Canadian I'll start to rethink my stand on exercising outdoors. Until then, please don't laugh when you pass me on the side of the road, little headlamp bobbing up and down as I go. (The Merry bobblehead! Latest offering from the Cranky Fitness store. Get yours before they're all gone!)
Seriously, or as seriously as I ever get, anyone planning any devious ways to fit outdoor exercise into the upcoming season?
