The unexpected benefits of exercise in the cold

Most studies show that exercising under cool or cold conditions brings many benefits to your health. But that does not mean you should wear jogging shorts when outdoors the temperature is 10 degrees Celsius!

The World Health Organization (WHO) tracks the HALE index for each country in the world. For those of you who don't know, HALE is an acronym for "Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth" , which is the average time when people in that country will live well before the illness or disability comes. Worldwide, this number averages 63 years. But according to the 2016 data from WHO, Japanese people seem to hold some secrets that most of us are unaware of: the average Japanese people will live well until the age of 75 - longer nearly 6 years compared to Americans.

The impressive Japanese HALE index is the result of a combination of diet, DNA, and many lifestyle-related factors. But practicing under cold weather is probably also part of their secret recipe. According to Shingo Kajimura, an associate professor and director of the lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF): "Living in Tokyo, everyone thinks that winter training will help you avoid having to see your doctor regularly. Doctor, and Japanese people for that reason often practice in the winter, so we can see that this is very reasonable. "

The fact that you are trembling in the middle of the cold turns out to burn a lot of calories!

Kajimura's lab at UCSF focuses on studying metabolic and energy balance, especially the function of fat cells in the body. He said exposure to the cold during exercise could be beneficial for many reasons. For example, the fact that you are shaking in the middle of the cold turns out to burn quite a lot of calories!

"Trembling is a very energy-consuming and exhausting process" - he said. If your goal of exercise is to lose weight, doing it in the cold may help a little bit.

Some of Kajimura's studies also show that working in a cool or cold environment will convert some fat cells in the body from harmful "white" fats into "stimulating" beige "fats. metabolism, producing heat. Kajimura says that this transition seems to help the body adapt to a cold environment and increase resting energy use - that is, the amount of calories a person will burn when they just sit still. Research by Kajimura and others suggests that beige fat can limit the sudden rise in blood sugar levels and even fight metabolic disorders like diabetes.

" Right now, it's just a theory. We need to do more research," Kajimura said.

Exercise also seems to help develop beige fat. Kajimura said there was a theory that beige fat helps the body filter byproducts called metabolites that were created during exercise. Evidence suggests that certain metabolites may contribute to fatigue and pain after exercise. Therefore, for many reasons, "combining stimulus is cold with exercise is a great idea" - he said - "I recommend practicing outdoors early in the morning or swimming in cold water" .

Maintaining a reasonable body temperature is one of the body's main priorities in any activity.

Besides the benefits associated with fat, cool weather training offers many other advantages. Maintaining a reasonable body temperature is one of the body's main priorities in any activity - according to Mike Jett, a tour guide and laboratory director for exercise physiology at Louisville University in Kentucky said. Exercise produces heat, and the body must work to react if conditions are hot or humid. Although this may be a minor problem in most cases, it can inhibit exercise performance."If the heat builds up, the intensity will be reduced," Jett said. Meanwhile, exercising in cool (or even cold, if you have been carefully prepared) conditions will be the most optimal. Now, the body will use all its resources to train and improve performance instead of adjusting the temperature - Jett continued. However, he added that "practicing in a hot room intentionally viewed from a performance standpoint is meaningless".

And yet, perhaps practicing under cold weather also has some benefits for mental health. A small study in 2004 in Finland found that swimming in the winter helps fight stress and aches, helping to improve overall health among 36 middle-aged people participating in the study. Exposure to cold water seems to activate the central nervous system and stimulate hormonal circulation to improve mood and energy.

Of course, there are risks when exercising in cold weather - especially if you exercise stressfully in harsh conditions."Winter sports athletes often experience respiratory dysfunction," said Michael Kennedy, associate professor of athletics, sports and entertainment at the University of Alberta in Canada.

Cough, runny nose, breathing difficulties and secretion of mucus in the throat are signs of a lung injury from a cold, Kennedy said. Although you want to avoid these symptoms as much as possible, he said that the feeling of being burned in his lungs or having a blood taste in his mouth is the biggest concern. They are signs of "deep lung" damage and may have long-term consequences for lung health and function. Pneumonia, lung tissue scarring, and a cold-type asthma attack can all occur when exercising under cold temperatures without proper protection.

Exercise in cold weather also has some benefits for mental health.

If you exercise in temperatures below 4.4 degrees Celsius, you should be careful to protect your lungs."Cover your mouth with a piece of leather or a towel to dry your neck quickly," Kennedy said. Also, don't go back home until your breathing slows down to normal. "There is something called warming pressure, when if your breathing is still high, it will cause water to be sucked out of the airway" - he said. That can put pressure on the lungs.

Exposure to cold weather can also be dangerous for people with heart disease."When you come into contact with the cold, the body tries to prevent heat loss by shrinking blood vessels," Kajimura explained. This makes blood pressure rise and may be bad news for people with hypertension or heart problems.

But overall, most studies show that exercising under cool or cold conditions is good for you. That doesn't mean you should run with shorts and T-shirts when outdoors only 10 degrees Celsius. If you equip your equipment properly and protect your lungs from being exposed to too much dry, cold air, there's no point. why force you to practice indoors in the coming winter!