5 Benefits To Training Outside This Winter

Even though it’s cold outside that’s no reason to put a stop to your health and fitness goals. In some ways, training outside in the cold weather even has its advantages with certain health benefits positively impacting your body. Wrap up warm, take your training outside and take advantage of what’s on offer.

YOUR METABOLISM IS BOOSTED

In colder temperatures your body works harder to regulate its core temperature. This works by it expending additional energy to stay warm, so exercising in the cold will provide a higher caloric expenditure. A bonus being that this will also have a positive effect on fat cells, helping you to burn body fat quicker.

YOU SHOULD BURN MORE CALORIES

In cold weather the body naturally expends more energy to stay warm so even before exercise is undertaken the body is already in a type of “survival mode” and thus requires more calories. Factor in your exercise and you’re likely to burn a lot of calories to aid with your weight loss goals.

YOU’LL GET MORE VITAMIN D

The recommended guideline for vitamin D intake is 1,000 to 2,000s IUs per day and a lot of people will struggle to get that during the winter as they choose to spend more time indoors. Long term this can lead to a vitamin D deficiency however getting outside for a workout will help maintain your body’s vitamin D levels.

YOUR MOOD WILL IMPROVE

Not just because of the rush of endorphins, training outside brings with it a whole load of benefits such as reduced stress, a more positive outlook and a sense of accomplishment. People tend to feel a lot better about themselves when in nature so if you’re living in an urban area try and focus your workout around a local park or green space.

YOU’LL INCREASE YOUR TRAINING INTENSITY

Another great benefit of training outside, also considered a side effect of it, is a vast improvement in your training intensity. Naturally with it being much colder outside, standing still and limiting movement will not be on your mind. You’ll want to stay warm as much as possible with no better way of achieving that than moving as much as possible and limiting rest periods. This will have a great improvement on your energy and endurance levels as a result.