Here we go! The first of our monthly themed challenges that hopefully will motivate us to get out there and explore something about walking on a walk!
The first chapter of the book “52 ways to walk” by Annabel Street covers all sorts of things when walking in the cold.
★★★So our challenge this month is to go out for a walk in the cold and be more conscious of what it does to our bodies.★★★
Because, in essence, every walker should embrace the cold - it’s good for you (and we are talking about moderate but not extreme cold). And it still means: layer up.
Our bodies are made for lower temperatures: ice, snow and cold have been used for centuries for healing; Egyptians knew cold water reduces inflammation; and medieval monks knew ice could be used as an anaesthetic. And today, winter exercise is known to reduce allergies and asthma.
Another benefit has to do with different kinds of fat. Shorts-wearing runners acquire extra layers of fat - the good kind of fat! The good fat (“brown fat”) is the fat that is highly effective in burning fat! I know, right? So thin people seem to have more brown fat than the larger kinds of people. They burn more burnable (bad) fat. And brown fat (the good fat) is also involved in processes that convert food into energy and help muscles to repair. Studies show that 2 hours are proven to be the duration where lower temperatures trigger the conversion into brown fat. And this conversion is triggered in quite reasonable cool-ish temperatures as high as 14-15 degrees Celsius.
Besides this, cold temperatures help us think more clearly. And a spot of cold de-stresses us. This reminded me of why cold-water swimming is increasing in popularity! And why do those crazy swimmers emerge from those quick dips into the icy sea or river waters and come out so smiling and happy?
So also for us walkers and runners, this should mean we might as well embrace the colder season for our walks, and as Annabel Street suggests
“… we should welcome the colder months as an exhilarating time to walk. … Our beneficial brown fat is urged into action. To top it all, we build endurance: in lower temperatures our hearts don't have to work so hard and we sweat less, meaning our bodies work more efficiently.”
And if you can bear it, on your winter walks, when cosily layered up with gloves and a warm hat, you might try exposing your forearms (keeping gloves on) to get that valuable Vitamin D, and also the neck area (keeping the hat on), activating the development of brown fat. And if you brought a hot thermos full of coffee, you can be reassured that the caffeine helps activate the brown fat, besides feeling that on that long, cold winter walk it is the most delicious coffee you have had the pleasure of drinking.
So join me on a winter walk this month? (NOTE: and it doesn’t have to be 2 hours! Any time is good.)
I like your walk but a bit like Sola it’s the 2 hours bit. I don’t mind the cold weather if not extreme, or I should say hands and fingers don’t , they don’t like the heat either, knuckles and fingers red all the time. Thermostat haywire.
I made a start this morning..it was cold and it was dry.... (when I set out) . My walk was going to be nowhere near 2 hours, as I am still recovering from the dreaded Covid fatigue. I walked for twenty minutes, which is a huge improvement on the last two efforts.
Layered with hat and buff... and a lightweight jacket...no gloves.... the sun was there but weak... and I embraced the cold air as I breathed in and out. However, as I turned at the halfway point the rain started. The only was back was uphill.. but there was no way on earth that I could speed up... I just walked steadily and as briskly as I could... a whole new meaning to the words, slow and steady. I have to say it felt like hard work.
I got home and sat for a while and after a while I can say that yes, it was enjoyable...if only because I was outside and moving!
On we go!
I stopped briefly on the outward lap to take a photo of a rainbow... just before the rain!
What a beautiful rainbow 🌈 Well done on your accomplishment, being a fellow sufferer of post viral fatigue you have both my empathy and sympathy. I have good and bad days, today being the latter, as I didn't even get out of bed until 9 30 and haven't done much since 😔
Yes..a,spirit lifter! One of the worst things is the randomness. One day...feeling a tad better almost good, then another.. just really fatigued!I don't sleep on the day but I rest in between tasks.
We are currently in bed before 9.30 and are sleeping 8 to 9 hours. That helps enormously, with no broken nights! Up again before 9.
Well done and especially with you being in recovery and it raining... Tomorrow I will go out for a walk today i just walked indoors... Thank you for giving me the push I needed... Take care... Love pic of rainbow
Good post from you CBDB, I always go a long walk in the winter months on a Sunday morning, usually between 10 and 13 kilometers, it usually takes me around 2 hours, in March 2021 I walked and ran a little for 21 kilometers in a time of 3 hours and 18 minutes, that actually was a half marathon, I thought to myself that some day I would try and run a HM in under 3 hours which I did on Sunday 27th November in memory of Tim. I am a member of our local walking group, we meet each Thursday outside our local leisure centre and go a 4K walk which takes around 45 minutes, after the walk we go into the leisure centre and have coffee and cake, about 47 hours later on a Saturday morning, most Saturdays, I go to parkrun and run 5K in around 32/33 minutes, so a long walk on a Sunday, a run on a Wednesday, walk on Thursday and another run on a Saturday, that is my weekly exercise routine.
After a bit too late sleeping after Hogmanay party at our house, we embarked on an hour’s walk which allowed me to get my first 2.7 miles in for the year. I took my Nordic Walking Poles, so this was a good workout. Met some friends on the walk, reconnected with NW technique, stripped off scarf, hat and gloves at half way point (does that count for experiencing the cold?). Came back pretty much sweaty and tired but happy.
yeah, it’s my go to route. Short off 5k, it annoyed me he when I did Couch to 5k and wanting to reach that 5k, but now I realised it is the perfect 2.8 miles. 👍🏽😊
I walk daily because I have three rather large dogs who will bounce off the walls if they don't get out. I love the cold weather ❄️😁❄️ I'm not a hot weather girl at all - being a larger lady, I tend to overheat and get sweaty and uncomfortable 🥵🥵 I'm sure it's something to do with my Northern birth line - I just don't seem to feel it unless it's brassic!!
I don't like the heat either - in the hot weather I'll be up early so I can get out early. Love your doggies but the one on the sofa doesn't seem to want to share?
She decided to leap off the sofa just as I clicked the shutter 😅 She's the one who always has ants in her pants 🐜🤣🐜 She definitely rules the roost - the boys know their place 😂😂😂
I’ll join your cool walkers group. I also would rather choose a dream holiday in cooler climates (Skandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, anyone?) than the hot beachside resorts.
Same! Our holidays have been…Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and Finland is next! Cold all the way here. We did brave Greece this May and the heat was a novelty-too hot for doing much except sitting by the sea under an umbrella!!
I'll be starting Wendy Bumgardner's 10k training schedule for beginners on Wednesday and that builds up to a 2 hour walk once a week from week 9 onwards. Other than that I'll be doing 30 minutes four times a week from week 4.
Yes that's the one! I've put all the timings in my diary, and so I get into a routine/habit I've chosen to make Tuesdays my long walk day and Mondays and Wednesdays rest days. Once I've done the 10k it also goes forward by building distance on the long walk every other week, and improving time on the other long walks. Looking forward to it. Will have to figure out my route for the 10k though
I'm off out now. I'm doing a Scavenger hunt challenge, need to find different things each day, today it's an AED. I know where to find one but I shall take the long way round, probably about 3.5 KM. I'm taking a bit of a step back this week, it never hurts once in a while.
I’ve been out this morning at it was glorious. I used a 3k guided walk from the Nike run club app for the first time. I downloaded it when I wasn’t able to run and never got round to it. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes when I’m walking I can drift off into nowhere but this really kept me focussed on the surroundings. There were some interesting prompts to think back over the last year. I particularly liked the one where you had to think of people who have made your life more full and fun and kept you moving forward (or something like that!). I immediately thought of all my virtual buddies here. Thanks for all the lovely posts!
It was very cold. I got out of the door wearing a jacket but was brave and ditched it before setting off. My nose was cold all the way which was great. The best feeling! Forgetting tissues and it running constantly was less good! Walking out along the paths and lanes, the sun was behind me and alongside me so I had a teammate shadow walking with me. Coming back, the sun was in my face but that meant it was behind the birds and occasionally I’d get a flash of feathers translucent because of the bright light. Seriously beautiful. I walked 3km out, ran 2.5km back and I’m in a super mood now.
I’ve never thought of mixing walking and running like that! I can see me trying that on my canal “there and back” route. Didn’t realise NRC had this walk…I’ve found and saved it for later use!
I’ve found it works really well. There are a lot of routes that I really enjoy but are a bit much to run at the moment while my knee’s not quite fixed. Sometimes I just like the peace of a long walk but also fancy a bit of a run. If I’m a bit tired, I don’t always want to run up a hill so I walk up it then run back down! MrU likes a walk so we’ve often started walking together and I’ve run afterwards. I find the much longer warm up walk makes the run much better, especially at the start,
I’ve stuck a walk on the end of a short run to make it worth while…there’s a couple of 2 mile circuits I use, and after a warm up walk, then a 15 minute run, I’ve carried on walking around the rest of the circuit.
I've managed to get out and walk every day so far (except today - had a choir thing on). Had a few nice rambles but on in-between days I've gone out to keep my active 10 app happy. My target is set for two sessions of brisk walking, so it's do-able even when I don't feel all that great. My brain is ridiculously easy to please this way. Instead of thinking, I could only manage twenty minutes, it's not even worth it, I now think, Wahoo! I've hit my target! 😊But I can't say it's particularly cold. Wet, yes. Very. But not cold. Never mind, can't have everything 😂
Mine’s set for 2 also. I think I originally worked out 30 mins x5, but spread over 7 days as back when I started, I was annoyed that all the badges were for completing weeks…but all the advice was for 30 mins for 5 days 🤷🏻♀️
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