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Exercising outside in the winter tips

Winter workouts are all about having a plan and dressing in layers.
Credit: Thinkstock Images

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - If you brave those frigid temps to get in a workout, it can be great for your body.

“You have to work harder to keep your core body temperature up so, compared to that same run in the gym, you'll burn more calories,” says Tria Orthopedic Physical Therapist Lauren Loberg.

Loberg says, if you exercise outside in the summer, stick with it in the winter too. That being said, she says any kind of interval training is probably best left indoors when the temperatures drop.

“Because if you speed up, your body temperature is going to elevate, which is going to make you sweat, and if you slow down you're going to get cold real fast,” Loberg says.

She says winter workouts are all about having a plan and dressing in layers.

“You want to dress to stay both warm and dry because, if you get wet, you're going to get cold really fast,” Loberg says.

She says a good rule to follow is wearing three layers on top when we're in the single digits or close to zero. The first layer should be tight synthetic clothing against your skin. “That's going to keep the heat in and help wick the moisture out,” Loberg says.

The next should be a thermal layer like fleece, and the top layer should be a water resistant wind breaker.

Here's where Loberg says most people make a mistake. “When they heat up they don't take layers off fast enough,” she says. “If you start to sweat, you want to be able to take layers off, stash them in your pocket and then the same thing at the end of your workout. If you're starting to get tired and you slow down, you're not going to be making that body heat and you need to be able to add layers back on.”

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