God, what was it this morning early. Dark especially and also cold on the bike. Half past 7 in the morning at the gym is quite manageable in the summer, but now it’s really tough. I admit, I have also been Sjaak Afhaak sometimes. I cautiously suggested today whether we could have some sort of winter break “It’s all so dark and early and cold and stuff. Brrrrr.” Liesbeth looked at me really strangely and our trainer shook his head hard no. Okay, clear case. I don’t really want that either, because you know me. I’m Sporty Spice. So, no way we’re going into hibernation, we just keep training and you really don’t have to take out a gym membership because you’re afraid of that cold out there. Here, I’ll give you some tips and tricks to keep yourself comfortably warm.
- The most important parts to warm up are your wrists, ankles, and ears. If those are warm, your whole body is warm. – In the winter I often wear gloves. I make sure they are really thin and light, because as soon as I get too warm, I can easily take them off and stuff them in a back pocket of my pants. - Don’t make the mistake of leaving the house fully packed with six layers, two hats, and three socks. Then you can get overheated. Not fun. Work with layers, but not too many. Stick to 2 or 3 layers. – At HEMA you can buy very nice thermal shirts . I wear those under my top. – Make sure that you can take something off during your workout. For example, a fleece vest that you wear at the beginning of the training, but then tie around your waist when you get warmer. – On really cold days I sometimes wear a short shirt, but then with loose sleeves. You can buy those in any sports store. The handy thing about it is that you can easily pull them down when you no longer need that warmth. – I personally don’t like training with a hat. Your head gets warm, starts to sweat a bit and that begins to tickle me quite a lot. As soon as you warm your ears, your whole head is warm too, so work with bands. - Be careful, after a good workout or run you are often very warm and if you don’t go inside immediately afterwards, because you’re still chatting outside for a bit, make sure to put something warm on. Even though you’re still sweating from the run. Otherwise, you’ll get sick. – Oh yes, and lastly. Make sure you are visible. In winter it quickly gets very dark, so buy a band for around your arm with blinking lights or check out the new collection from Nike. They have sportswear with lots of reflective stripes on the sleeves and legs. Super handy and also stylish.
