The Cold Canberra Winter
The winter period can be a problem especially for people trying to keep fit and be in top shape as they try to start a new nutritional plan and of course, exercise routine. It is extra hard to keep motivated in colder regions, like CANBERRA!!! It should however be noted that the benefits attributed to exercising in the winter outweighs those of exercising in other seasons, some of which are highlighted below.
Eradication of winter blues
- Eradicating the winter blues is just as important if not more important than getting your diet plan up and running. The ability to brace your body and get ready for the weather is a great benefit of exercising in the winter. Exercising releases our “feel happy” hormones and essentially that will make those colder and darker days easier in the short term.
Helps you sleep well
- Exercise works your body hard and hence, enables you to sleep well and often better. Who knows, you might even wake up earlier than you used to feeling even more refreshed.
Glowing Skin
- While it is not uncommon for people to complain of having problems with their skin during winter, exercising makes your skin healthy and allows it to glow to the point where others envy your beautiful skin. Exercising can help reduce the effect of UV on the skin. The effect of exercising on the skin does not end here as it also helps to preserve the use of vitamins that are vital to the protection of the skin.
Performance Increase
- This is a very important benefit of exercising in the winter. Research has discovered that the body performs better and more effectively when exercised in the cold. Think altitude training and why the AIS had many training camps at altitude.
Efficient use of oxygen
- Otherwise known as “speed freeze”, running in cold or even icy conditions have been discovered to help to train the body to use oxygen more efficiently.
Fight seasonal disorder
- Also referred to as SAD, seasonal affective disorder as the name suggests does not only occur during winter but any other season. But, exercising in the winter months and subsequently keeping fit would significantly help with this condition.
Fantastic summer look
- The common phrase that “Summer Bodies are made in the winter” is absolutely true. You either have a body you can be proud of in summer, or one you wish you did not have depending on how you spent the winter. The benefits mentioned above are just some of the many that are inherent in exercising in the winter.