Winter Exercise:
STAYING FIT OUT IN THE COLD

MANHATTAN -- Brrrrrr! Too cold to exercise? Despite the chilling temperatures, a Kansas State University professor says you can still exercise during these cold winter months.

"At this time of the year there is really no problem with exercising outside as long as you dress appropriately and take a few precautions," said David Dzewaltowski, associate professor of kinesiology.

Dzewaltowski suggests these tips for the cold weather exerciser:

* One basic guideline is to dress in layers of breathable clothing. The layered clothing provides insulation between the layers. Don't put on layers of breathable clothing and then throw on a plastic raincoat over the top that doesn't breath. What happens is you start to sweat and the sweat can't evaporate -- it's held close to your skin and then you get cold.

* If you are going out for a walk or a run in cold weather, go out with the wind facing you. The worst thing that can happen is that you go out with the wind at your back and you begin to feel warm. Two miles out you turn around and the wind is facing you. The wind chill causes you to lose body core temperature, and that's the situation where problems develop.

* Make your walking loop a little bit shorter. Rather than walking a mile out and coming a mile back, you might also try walking three half-mile loops, so if you do get cold and have some problems with the weather you can stop early.

* Consider your warm up and cool down. As you're warming up, your body core temperature is increasing and you are creating energy. On cold days think about dressing for how warm you are going to be during your workout phase. If you dress to feel warm at the beginning of your warm up phase, then you are going to be too warm when you are working out. By being too warm, you will sweat and increase the likelihood of becoming chilled during the cool down, or if you begin exercising at a lower intensity. Try to dress for how you are going to feel when you're warmed up.

* You may want to warm up indoors if you can. Do a little exercising to increase your body temperature, then go outside. Do the same with the cool down. Rather than cooling down outside, come in and try to do your cool down inside.

For those who want to avoid the cold weather entirely Dzewaltowski offers these indoor activities:

* If you're a walker, look for places to walk in your community. Walk at a local shopping mall. Many communities are opening their high school gyms for people walk around in.

* If you are going to stay inside your home, consider purchasing some home exercise equipment. To burn calories, the best exercises are those that use a lot of muscle groups in a continuous period of time. Move your arms, your legs and your whole body for 30 minutes. It is expensive to get a good piece of equipment that works your entire body. It is an investment and commitment you should really consider when purchasing a good indoor bicycle or indoor treadmill. The worst thing you can do is buy a cheap piece of equipment and then find out you don't like it.

"I think it's important that people stay with their exercise plans," said Dzewaltowski. "As it gets cold, the weather becomes a stress. So to increase your activity, going outside in very cold weather probably makes it more difficult, and it is more likely that you are going to drop out and quit your exercise program."

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January 1997