Last week on the blog we announced what our plans were at AdMac Fitness for lockdown 2. We’d be exercising outside to make sure all of our personal training sessions could keep going from our private fitness studio in East London. The uptake has been amazing - we’ve continued to deliver personal training in the outdoors and have successfully moved the gym, so unlike other facilities, we’re still delivering a great service.
In this week’s article we’re going to look at outdoor training considerations. Now many of you are going to be exercising outdoors, you have new points to consider and different challenges to overcome. It’s not as simple as just performing the same workouts outside - you’ve got to make sure you’re warmed up thoroughly, dressed appropriately and have taken into account potential additional safety hazards. We’re entering winter now so we have additional weather considerations that just aren’t a factor indoors.
By following the guidelines in this article you’ll ensure your outdoor training is done safely and effectively.
Training Outdoors - What We Know
The claims made in this article are backed by scientific research. There’s a large body of evidence around performance in the cold, so we need to use the knowledge available to us to not only train safely outside, but also to maximise the effects of the outdoors. By following certain guidelines we use the outdoor training to our advantage and benefit from having our hand forced to outdoor work!
Injury risk Increases in the cold…
When the autumn and winter kicks in and the temperatures drop, we know there’s an increased injury risk. Studies have shown that in colder temperatures it takes less force to cause muscle damage, so you have to really ensure that you are warmed up thoroughly before you start to train, especially if the workout you are doing involves a lot of high impact or explosive movements such as plyometrics.
Re-think your rest periods…
Knowing there’s an increase injury risk in the cold, it will impact exactly how you programme rest periods - in cold weather you don’t want to be standing around for too long in between sets because you’ll cool down much more quickly. Consider instead reducing rest periods or putting in ‘active recovery’ work between sets, where you are still moving your body but at a much lower intensity.
Muscle function is affected by the cold… so programme for it!
Muscle function is also impaired in the cold. Researchers in the USA discovered that in lower temperatures the ability of the body to produce force is impaired. In particular both the maximum force produced and the speed with which the muscles contract are both affected by reduced temperature. In practice what this means is that if you’re training outside in the cold, don’t expect to be able to lift weights quickly or as powerfully as you would in the gym.
But there’s a fat loss benefit…
Calorie expenditure increases dramatically in the cold - so you can use this to your advantage! In cold exposure studies it has been shown that you can burn 10-40% more calories than if you were training at a more ‘normal’ temperature range, so use this to your advantage. If you have a particular fat loss goal or want to use your training to accelerate calorie burn, why not move the session outside and benefit from the extra calorie burn that the cold gives you! It’s an accidental additional fat loss benefit!
Training Outdoors - Making it Safe
Here’s the boring bit, but it's advice we think you should all follow. By taking care of these points you’ll make your outdoor exercise safer, more effective and ultimately, a lot more enjoyable!
Dress appropriately…
It’s all about layers. You don’t want thick, bulky clothes. There’s an excellent range of base layers around now, so go for those. You want flexibility in our outfit, so you can add or remove layers as necessary.
Train in a well-lit area…
In the winter it gets dark early. Having dumbbells, kettlebells, benches etc around can be dangerous if you can’t see them. You don’t want to break an ankle by tripping over kit. That’s not what we mean by no pain, no gain.
NEVER SKIP THE WARM UP!
As we saw earlier, it’s easy to cause tissue damage when you’re cold, so always warm up very thoroughly. If you think you’ve done enough, do a little bit more just to be on the safe side!
Stay hydrated…
In the cold it may take you longer to sweat, but that doesn’t mean you won’t sweat - stay hydrated as you normally would in a training session.
Don’t stand around…
We’ve already mentioned muscle injury risk in the cold, so even on your rest periods keep moving about, don’t let your muscles get cold and tight.
Programme for the environment…
If it’s freezing, remember there’ll be a knock on effect with your muscle function, so don’t expect to be able to PB your deadlift if it’s very cold! Do what you can, but be sensible!
Training Outdoors - Final Thoughts
If you do it properly, training outdoors is excellent and can really give you a physical and psychological boost. If you struggle with your mental health, outdoor exercise is a particularly powerful and effective lift. Studies show training outside reduces perception of difficulty, reduces stress and improves mood. Even if you don’t struggle with your mental health, outdoor exercise provides a fresh series of challenges and can help push your training and fitness on by getting you out of your normal comfort zone and forcing you to adapt to a new stimulus, which is exactly what training is!
Just make sure you follow the advice in this article to do it safely!
If you’d like us to help you continue your training during lockdown, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!