Thursday, November 17, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Living
Cold facts about winter exercise
Photo illustration by Shauna NorfleetKANSAN
Dress is important in avoiding illness, injuries
By Craig Welch Kansan staff writer
On frigid, wintry mornings, Joe Milanese likes to take a hot shower before leaving the house for his daily ing.
Milanese, an exercise physiologist from the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Wellness Center, said a shower helped loosen his muscles before he put them to work during the extreme cold of winter.
"A person's muscles are stifted during the first few moments after waking," he said.
But, he said, a shower is not the only necessary precaution people must take when exercising outdoors, especially during the winter months. Ignoring such things as proper dress can result in injury.
When dressing for outdoor exercise, Milanese said, it is important to wear more than a single layer of clothing. If a person becomes too warm, he or she may be uncomfortable and wearing just one heavy layer could be dangerous.
"Often, people will overreach for exercise and go into hyperthermia," he said. "Their bodies become sweaty and very agitated."
The layer closest to the skin should be of a material that draws out the perspiration, such as gortex or a light wool. This prevents moisture on the skin from acting as a cooling agent.
"During the summer, perspiration works to keep you cool," he said. "Obviously you don't need that during the winter. What really hurts, though is that it's going to bite right through a lot of clothing."
foming The outer layer should be of a windbreaking
material such as nylon, for protection from the wind.
Lymn Bott, athletic trainer for the University of Kansas, said that although the temperature in Kansas did not get extremely low, the wind could be vicious. The combination of wind and low temperatures can cause the wind chill factor to drop tremendously.
Quoting from "Modern Principles of Athletic Training," a textbook written by Daniel D. Arnheim, Bott said, "At 30 degrees Fahrenheit, with a headwind factor is actually 17 degrees Fahrenheit."
It also is important to cover the ears, nose, fingers and head. The head, Bott said, radiates a tremendous amount of heat so keeping it covered could prevent heat loss, and possible hypothermia.
He suggested wearing a stocking cap and mittens to protect the head and fingers.
"Mittens are actually better than gloves," Bott said. "Your hands are confined to one area and will retain heat."
Cold weather tends to constrict the blood vessels. In the extremities, such as fingers, where there are fewer blood vessels, cold weather could cut off the blood supply completely.
Milanese said appropriate exercise attire also could prevent frostbite. Frostbite is a freezing of the skin caused by overexposure to cold. The exposed bone comes brittle and painful or it may simply go numb.
"Frostbite can be very serious," he said. "You usually can't tell you have it until it's too late."
Milanese said frostbite could cause infection and possibly the loss of fingers or toes. If gloves or mittens are unavailable, some sort of moisturizer could be used to coat any exposed areas.
Milanese also said attention to other things, such as stretching and maintaining a balanced diet were just as important during the winter months as they were during other times during the year.
"You want to do gradual stretches, not the bounce ones you did in junior high," Milanese said. "Then exercise a little and stretch again. That's the best way to get carry over from one day to the next."
"And watch your diet. People tend to cook less during the winter and eat fatter foods. Keep away from that. Your diet should consist of 65 to 75 calories per day, including protein and the remaining percent could be fats."
Carole Schneider, assistant professor of health, physical education and recreation, said using a bandana or ski mask to the nose and mouth might seem helpful to some people, but was not
She said that a common myth was that covering those areas would prevent the lungs from freezing. Actually, Schneider said, there was evidence to suggest that the lungs could not freeze.
"Cold air entering the respiratory pathway is 'conditioned,' which involves increasing temperature of incoming air 2 to 3 percent within the core temperature and maintaining moisture content within 2 to 3 percent of full saturation," she said in a cold room context. "Therefore the air is well above freezing."
However, Schneider stressed the importance of
avoiding overexposure to cold weather. Often, joggers will misjudge the distance they want to run and remain outdoors for too long.
She said people should use common sense.
She said exercising outdoors during the winter wasn't as dangerous as exercising during the summer. A person jogging at six miles an hour during the spring or fall would carry the same physiological workload as a person jogging at the same pace during the winter.
"It only seems like more work because of the bulky clothing." she said.
But this bulky clothing also tends to restrict people who are exercising. Schneider said it was important for joggers to watch their footing on ice and snow.
"When running on slick surfaces in heavy clothing and in cold weather, it is much easier to twist an ankle," she said.
It is difficult to have normal muscular control under those conditions."
All three of the experts agreed that outdoor exercise, if handled properly, could be safe and helpful. But for students who want to run in shorts, there are indoor track facilities available.
On campus, there are indoor tracks in Allen Field House and Anschutz Sports Pavilion. A representative from the athletic center said the track in the field house was available for student use from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the track in Anschutz was available from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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