WHY WINTER IS A GREAT TIME TO EXERCISE

Importance of Regular Exercise

 Winter is almost upon us while some of us will rug up and hybernate others are gearing up or dusting off those winter hoodies raring to knuckle down and get those gains for summer . Personally I love training in the winter the beach is done for the year unless you do water sports or love a good recovery swim , you lean towards eating more hearty meals , its not great to go outside at times and my Netflix goes into overtime plus Id rather train in the cold than on 40 +degree day . The reality is  that the cold is only really with us 1- 2 months of the year . For some getting through those 2 months gives a sense of achievement or for others its just the norm of keeping up doing regular exercise . For the past 6 years we have run outdoor bootcamps all year round and for the past 3 years we have run a gym . For those first 3 years I always thought their would be a huge drop off in our members and as a business owner this was a big worry. Lucky enough the variety in our workouts ,  getting people results and Perths awesome weather kept our members coming back for more . It did get me thinking as to why we had some people continue on and some left and the main reason I believe is having a sense of achievement after their workout .

I'm not going to lie our workouts are challenging and leave our members with a sense of achievement after every session but the mind can play tricks with you during the winter months a thought of doubt can enter the brain hours , minutes and even days before the session begins . First of all lets have a look at what happens during a workout .We all know that voice in our head while we are doing a workout its saying why am I doing this ?? I can't do another rep ??? Are you kidding me Dan ??? and finaly oh thank god thats finished . Once things begin to settle and you catch your breath the sense of achievement begins to kick in and it trully is a wonderful feeling doing something you think you could not do it is a huge human trait in our genetic makeup and makes us feel alive. Combine that feeling with conquering the doubt in your mind prior gives you double the satisfaction. 

If you have any doubt about training through the witnter keep these things in mind 

-It barely rains all day espeicially in your hour _
-You get a great Sense of achievement 
-Fun workouts 
-It really wasn't as bad as you think 
-Thats a huge tick in the box for the day 
-Lets do it again 
- " YOUR METABOLSIM DOESNT KNOW ITS RAINING"

Here are some more benefits of doing regular exercise .

Regular exercise has been shown as one of the most important factors in maintaining good physical, psychological and emotional health and well-being.

Becoming physically active from leading a sedentary lifestyle or maintaining a physically active life style has been shown to reduce risk factors of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease through only moderate intensity exercise (Fletcher et al. 1996).

Having a good balance of aerobic exercise with resistance training (weight training) is important to maximise
beneficial results of an exercise program. Performing only resistance training will not offer as beneficial results regarding reduction in many chronic disease risk factors as aerobic training, although it will improve carbohydrate metabolism. This is caused by an increased muscle mass allowing greater muscle glycogen storage and utilisation in conjunction with an increased basal metabolic rate (Fletcher et al. 1996). This
happens due an increase in muscle tissue allowing greater room for storage of glycogen (the end product of carbohydrates), the more you can store in your muscles the more you can utilise for fuel when exercising rather than converting the carbohydrates to fat for storage. Another vital benefit of resistance training is the improvement and maintenance of bone mineral density (Nelson 1994). Bone mineral density (BMD) is critically important and the key indicator of bone health, a reduction in BMD otherwise known as Osteopenia is a warning sign of the onset of Osteoarthritis. (see Ahmed et al. 1997 for an in depth explanation, classifications and definitions of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis).

On top of physical benefits, research has shown great psychological benefits to exercise, Babyak et al. 2000 found that those who utilised exercise therapy as a treatment for depression over a 10 month period and then continued on with their physically active lifestyle displayed a reduction in the probability of relapse.

These are just some of the wonderful benefits you will miss out on leading a sedentary lifestyle and show the importance of daily physical activity. There is no ceiling to the improvements that you can make to your life through exercise because exercise and the health benefits we receive from them work in a dose response relationship, meaning that some is better than none but more is better than some. So get outside today and start your journey towards a healthier life.

References

Ahmed, A.I.H., G.M. Blake, J.M. Rymer, and I. Fogelman. 1997. "Screening For Osteopenia And Osteoporosis: Do The Accepted Normal Ranges Lead To Overdiagnosis?". Osteoporosis International 7 (5): 432-438. doi:10.1007/s001980050029.

Babyak, Michael, James A. Blumenthal, Steve Herman, Parinda Khatri, Murali Doraiswamy, Kathleen Moore, W. Edward Craighead, Teri T. Baldewicz, and K. Ranga Krishnan. 2000. "Exercise Treatment For Major Depression: Maintenance Of Therapeutic Benefit At 10 Months".Psychosomatic Medicine 62 (5): 633-638. doi:10.1097/00006842-200009000-00006.

Fletcher, G. F., G. Balady, S. N. Blair, J. Blumenthal, C. Caspersen, B. Chaitman, and S. Epstein et al. 1996. "Statement On Exercise: Benefits And Recommendations For Physical Activity Programs For All Americans: A Statement For Health Professionals By The Committee On Exercise And Cardiac Rehabilitation Of The Council On Clinical Cardiology, American Heart Association". Circulation 94 (4): 857-862. doi:10.1161/01.cir.94.4.857.

Nelson, M. E. 1994. "Effects Of High-Intensity Strength Training On Multiple Risk Factors For Osteoporotic Fractures. A Randomized Controlled Trial". JAMA: The Journal Of The American Medical Association 272 (24): 1909-1914. doi:10.1001/jama.272.24.1909.