2023-07-15 18:10:32
Exercising at home can be useful to avoid low temperatures outside (Getty)
Winter can be defined in various ways, although there are two characteristics that are transversal to this time of the year: cold and short days. Under these precepts, it is common for many people to choose to stay at home, avoiding outdoor activities or those that involve a transfer, such as physical exercise.
For the World Health Organization (WHO), physical activity “refers to all movement, even during leisure time, to get to and from certain places, or as part of a person’s work. Among the most common it is worth mentioning walking, cycling, pedaling, playing sports, participating in recreational activities and games.
As can be seen, the WHO definition proposes actions that, during the winter, can be a nuisance for those who suffer from low temperatures or for those who, when night falls, prefer to shelter in the warmth of the home.
“For those who have not developed a habit of practicing regular physical exercise, environmental conditions are usually a justification for continuing to procrastinate or postpone the task of moving,” Elías Chamale, a doctor specializing in sports medicine and medicine, introduced in dialogue with Infobae. intern at the Catholic University of Córdoba (UCC).
Here are 5 tips from the experts to maintain a healthy routine even when it’s cold.
1. Walks
Ideally, adults should get at least 150 minutes of exercise per week (Getty)
The sports psychologist Pablo Sucarrat, who worked in soccer clubs such as Colón de Santa Fe, Rosario Central and Vélez Sarsfield, added to Infobae: “Sports activities have to do with the taste of each person and their possibilities. Generally, an activity that is within the reach of the person is recommended due to their physical conditions and time. It is advisable, during the winter, to look for activities close to home and schedule a day and time to be organized”.
Along these lines, Chamale suggested: “Performing low-intensity exercises, such as walking, is usually safe in people with low cardiovascular risk. This exercise is a good start, since it constitutes the same and ancestral nature that allowed us human beings a multiplicity of survival strategies, and we are generally adapted without major inconveniences”.
The walking time can vary according to the routine and the will of each person; however, the WHO suggests that adults should “engage in moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity for at least 150 to 300 minutes” per week.
“Access to face-to-face closed places such as gyms, swimming pools and competition fields is very widespread. Those who have the possibility of walking 10 round-trip blocks to those places can already warm up and then recover,” Chamale analyzed.
The arrival of the cold can cause the postponement of physical activity (Getty)
2. Exercises at home or indoors
“When cold conditions are extreme or not tolerated by people, indoor exercise practices are an excellent alternative,” Chamale said.
And he added: “In the digital age we have access to a multitude of tutorials and live trainers who can guide us through routines that do not require more than a pair of shoes, comfortable clothes and at most some easily obtained and homemade items. In addition, the cold is not a limiting factor if the exercise can be carried out in closed places such as gyms, swimming pools or covered courts.
For Chamale, “these routines are very diverse, and in general movements of the large muscle groups are recommended, such as the upper body (scapular girdle and upper limbs), middle body (thorax, abdomen and lumbar muscles) and lower body (pelvic girdle and lower limbs)”.
3. Exercise in free moments
It is essential to take advantage of free moments to move, even during the routine (Getty)
Exercising in spare time, such as in the office or on a short trip from home, can be useful to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. “The cold can be a great excuse for not doing it, but activation with exercises or active breaks —exercise in the office— are recommended at home and at work,” Sucarrat stressed.
Meanwhile, according to Chamale, “those who can develop a habit of daily moderate to intense exercise for at least 150 minutes a week will benefit from the physiological changes both at the muscle and fat tissue levels.”
“People with good physical training count among the benefits the ability to tolerate cold much better. This is due to the fact that the generation of endogenous heat, that is, that generated by the organism itself, is associated with metabolic activities that are mainly focused on muscle activity in the adult stage and, secondarily, on fatty tissue.” Chamale said.
4. Choose the right clothes
During the winter, you have to change your clothes as soon as the training is over (Getty)
When preparing to train in winter, Chamale left some advice related to clothing and considering, especially, outdoor sports: “It is advisable to use a garment that absorbs sweat in contact with the skin and an external insulator of the type windbreak for the outside. At the end of the exercise, wet clothing must be removed immediately, since it quickly cools down, causing discomfort or undesirable muscle contractures.
“And, of course, hydration is always essential; Although the requirement is less than in warm conditions, thinking about 800 milliliters of water per hour of training, added to the basal of 2 liters per day, is a good guide”, Chamale closed.
For his part, the sports doctor and cardiologist Jorge Franchella, director of the Exercise Cardiology Council of the Argentine Society of Cardiology, highlighted in dialogue with Infobae: “In winter, the environment is colder than our body, and the body is predisposed to give that cold to the environment. Lowering the body temperature would be dangerous and requires care regarding what clothing we use and in what environment we do it. In addition, with the cold we have less ability to feel thirsty and, even so, we must recover the liquid with hydration ”.
5. Consult a doctor in case of risk factors
People with long-standing health or sedentary problems should consult a doctor before starting to train (Getty)
“For those sedentary people who are over 35 years of age or have cardiovascular risk factors diagnosed such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and obesity, it is necessary to consult your clinical doctor in order to evaluate, treat and correct these conditions. to be able to practice moderate to intense exercises safely. In addition, it must be taken into account that, for example, people with obesity may require a special evaluation for the prevention of high-impact injuries such as jumping,” Chamale warned.
And he closed: “There are certain indications that can help improve certain states of health. For example, cycling helps knee and hip pain; exercises in water allow obese people to move when starting exercise practices; aerobic routines should be more important in arterial hypertension or diabetes; and walking is important to treat osteoporosis.”
In turn, Ricardo Antonowicz, a psychoanalyst specializing in sports and a teacher, told Infobae: “A sedentary lifestyle is the lack of adequate physical activity, which must be performed regularly in a dynamic way with muscular movements and moderate intensity. In addition, it must have a progressive start. The cold can be a trigger to miss training for a few days and you have to redouble your will, but the one who is determined attends regularly anyway ”.
Finally, Antonowicz suggested “that people exercise taking precautions against the cold, but even so it is essential that they do so because in those moments we cultivate social relationships and it gives us fun if it is done in a recreational environment: physical activity is health”.
Keep reading:
What is the ideal time to do physical activity and activate the metabolism Physical activity: a key tool to treat addictions What type of exercise is necessary to have an optimal physical condition
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