Pittwater Life June 2017 Issue

Health & Wellbeing
Health & Wellbeing
Fitness in Winter:
top tips to gain
impressive results
On cold dark winter mornings
it’s hard enough to
get out of bed, let alone get up
and exercise and we all seem to
succumb to the temptation to
snuggle up under the doona.
In fact, four out of five Australians
admit their exercise
regime falls by the wayside as
the weather gets colder.
A great motivational tip is to
remind yourself of the benefits
of exercise and how
amazing you feel
after a workout.
Exercise can help to
beat the “winter blues”
and warm you up.
After just 10
minutes, the brain
releases a rush of
‘feel-good’ endorphins
boosting
your mood and the
increased blood flow pumping
around your body warms you
up from the inside out.
Rachel Cohen, from
Xperteze Fitness & Nutrition,
recommends the following to
improve your results:
Increase your warm-up time.
“During the colder months,
your body tends to tighten up
and sudden exercise without a
sufficient warm-up can lead to
muscle and joint sprains and
strains,” says Rachel.
“Include an effective, longer
warm-up at a lower intensity.
“Instead of a 5- to 10-minute
warm-up, extend it to 10 to 15
minutes. This will help increase
blood flow to the muscles and
improve joint mobility reducing
the chance of injury.”
Layer up. Exercising in the cold
can put as much stress on your
body as exercising in the heat,
says Rachel. “When it’s cold,
your body can lose heat faster
than it can produce it, meaning
your energy levels get depleted
quite quickly.
“Make sure
you dress for the
weather... layers are
perfect as you can
easily remove them
as you warm up
and put them back
on when finished.”
Get outdoors as
much as possible.
“Even though it’s
cold outside, it
is still important for overall
health to get some sunshine,”
she advises.
Take your exercise outdoors
and benefit from the fresh air
and Vitamin D, which helps
to maintain bone strength,
strengthen the immune system
and improves your overall
heath and happiness.
Have fun. “No-one will stick to
an exercise program if it isn’t
fun,” she warns.
“Make the most of those
crisp and dry sunny winter
days – after all, winter on the
Northern Beaches isn’t really
that bad!”
48 JUNE 2017
Celebrating 25 Years