Michael Kennedy, an associate professor of kinesiology, sport, and recreation at the University of Alberta in Canada, told Quartzy that cold-weather exercisers should watch for coughing, mucus buildup in the throat, or any sort of trouble breathing while they work out - these could potentially be indicators of 'cold-induced lung trauma.'Įxercising in frigid temperatures below 40 degrees without wearing proper protection may have long-term effects on lung health and function, Kennedy noted. 'For me, I find that if I focus my efforts on performance-based metrics as opposed to calorie counting, I tend to be in a healthier mental state as well as see more progress in achieving my goals,' Caley Crawford, the director of education at Row House, told Bustle in 2018.ĭepending on how cold the climate you're exercising in is, another thing to be mindful of when training outdoors in cold weather is your lung health. Fitness experts have previously told Bustle that looking at other metrics in a workout is key to developing a sustainable relationship with exercise - one that's based around feeling good. The reality is, science isn’t majorly conclusive on this yet, but burning calories isn't necessarily a good measure of a workout's effectiveness, anyway. Whether you’ve just started working out or are a regular running pro, here’s everything you need to know about working out in the cold.įirst off, there’s a widely held belief that exercising in the cold burns more calories than working out indoors.

Or perhaps you just prefer being in nature as a more scenic (and cost-free) alternative to working out in a traditional gym.

For people who love to exercise in the great outdoors, the onset of winter provides a chilly conundrum: Is working out in cold weather bad for you, good for you, or somewhere in the middle? Maybe you’ve just gotten into a regular running routine, and are now faced with extreme temps that make you question how you’re going to get your exercise in.

Should you work out with a cold