Winter Fitness: Safety Tips for Cold-Weather Exercise

On days when temperatures drop below 32 degrees F., cover your ears with an earband (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)—a “Miracle-Gro for the brain.”baranq/Shutterstock

You feel cold most in your fingers, ears and toes. During World War II, gunners on the bombers complained bitterly about frozen hands, ears and toes. The Army Air Force added special insulation to their gloves, hats and boots, and they stopped complaining even though they still suffered frostbite on the skin of their necks and front of their chests. They had unzipped their jackets because they didn’t feel cold.

Your Hands

To help keep your hands warm on very cold days, wear an inner layer of thin gloves made from loosely-woven material that permits sweat to pass through. Gloves allow you to control your fingers better than mittens when you shift gears or use ski poles. On cold days, you may also need a middle layer of a more tightly woven-thick material, and if it is very cold, an outer layer that does not let wind or water in. The single compartment of mittens retains heat better than gloves that have separate compartments for each finger.