Baby Boomer Health – Cold Plus Exercise

Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Cold Plus Exercise

Show Notes:

Is it ever too cold to exercise safely?  No!  But you need to take some precautions.  Don't over dress and don't stop moving.  Stay dry.

Myth – lungs are damaged by cold air.  Not true.  By the time it reaches your lungs it is already warmed up.

Myth – I get asthma in cold air.  It is not the cold air that causes exercise-induced asthma.  It is the dryness of the air.  The same thing would happen if you exercised in warm dry air.  You need to moisten the air.  Consider using a balaclava – it covers your mouth so your exhaled air can moisten your inhaled air.  I have used this when I lived up North and it really helped.

Myth – you can adapt to the cold.  Studies have not found any significant adaptation to the cold.  The body's response to cold is closing the blood vessels near the skin and shivering.  This does not improve over time.

Hypothermia – wet and cold.  Water transfers heat away from your body 70 times better than air.  So stay dry.  Don't over dress and end up sweating.  You should feel cool before you start exercising.  And keep moving to produce heat and prevent hypothermia.

Frostbite – skin temperatures drops to 27 degrees.  Cover exposed skin particularly ears, nose, fingers and toes.  Keep the skin temperature above 82 degrees and you will do fine. 

Remember to dress warm – don't sweat a lot, wear a hat and cover your ears, wear gloves, keep dry and keep moving.  You can exercise in cold weather if you take some simple precautions according to the recent research.