Outdoor workouts are a great way to stay healthy, both in a “fitness” sense and an “avoiding COVID-19” sense. But as we get closer to wintertime, there’s a chill in the air, and suddenly your warmup takes on new meaning.
Think of the first 10 minutes as ‘transition time’
Your body generates heat as you exercise. By the time you finish your workout, you’ll be at least comfortably warm, and possibly even overheated depending on how you’re dressed. But it takes time to warm up, no matter how you exercise.
I like to think of the first mile of a run or the first 10 minutes of a workout a transition time—a period in which you’re finding your stride, getting into the zone, and literally warming up. If you’re running, you shouldn’t worry about your pace in that first mile. And if you’re doing burpees on the sidewalk—or whatever your workout consists of—you should plan on the first 10 minutes being more about easing in than about putting forth your best performance of the day.
Ten minutes is a minimum. Depending on what you plan to do and how cold it is, your warmup may need to last longer. If you don’t feel ready until you’ve been out there for 20 minutes, then so be it.
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Raise your body temperature
It’s not called a warmup for purely metaphorical reasons. Your muscles literally need to be warm in order to work optimally. Warm muscles are at their strongest and most flexible.
This means you probably shouldn’t do your most demanding work—hard intervals, tricky yoga poses—before you’re fully warmed up. If you like to stretch at the start of your workout, do that after your warmup. Stretching is not a warmup all by itself.
What exercises to do
A warmup should consist of work that gets you moving, but doesn’t demand vigorous effort or perfect technique. A few options:
A brisk walk A light jog Jumping jacks or jump rope (take breaks as needed)Bodyweight moves that are easy but involve large muscles, like lunges and modified pushupsIf your planned workout for the day is a walk or a run, you can warm up simply by starting out at a lighter intensity before you hit your full speed. For that reason, runners don’t have to change much; you were either going to go for an easy run anyway, or if you had intervals planned, you were probably going to jog a bit before starting them.
Dress appropriately
Dressing warmly will help you hold onto your body heat as you warm up. That is why sweatshirts and sweatpants are sometimes called “warmups,” because you wear them as you’re warming up and toss them aside afterward.
If you’re covering distance, you need to make a choice: do you want to wear extra layers and then carry them with you—for example tying your sweatshirt around your waist? Or would you rather start off in your running clothes and just be cold for the first ten minutes or so?
Another option is to do your warmup as a short loop that returns to a place where you can safely drop off your extra clothes, like your house or your car. Ditch the jacket, then head back out.
Consider warming up indoors
If you like, you can do your warmup indoors before heading out for your actual workout. The same recommended exercises apply (jumping jacks, lunges, and so on) and you can head out as soon as you feel warm enough that the idea of stepping into the winter air doesn’t bother you as much.
If you wheeze in the cold, by the way, a warmup is even more important, and you’d do well to ask a doctor whether you might have exercise-induced asthma. If you do—and it’s fairly common—a thorough warmup can help prevent the tightening of the air passages in your lungs that is triggered by cold dry air. Besides warmup exercises, a face mask or scarf can help warm the air that you’re breathing.
