Workout Clothes for Hot and Cold Weather (muscles, treadmill, waist)
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I am new to a local with extreme temperatures and really need to get some workout clothes to wear in the Cold and hot and humid weather! Does anyone know of a company that makes these clothes that are not too expensive?
For specialized activities such as hiking, skiing, etc., you need clothing suitable for the sport as well as for the weather.
If you're talking about activities done more often for everyday exercise, like jogging, what I've found about exercising in cold weather is that you need to wear less than you might think you do, because you will generate some heat once you get moving. On the coldest days you may feel a little chilly when you first start out if you're not wearing a jacket, but my experience has been that you don't have to run for more than a few minutes before you warm up pretty well. You may feel a little stiff when it's cold out, if you just step out the door and start running. It's a good idea to loosen up and get your body prepared for vigourous activity in the cold, by doing some warm-up exercises OUTSIDE. Do some jumping jacks, arm circles, and running in place until you begin to feel your muscles loosening up a bit, and then begin your run.
The key to outdoor exercise in cold weather is to avoid having much exposed flesh. On typical winter days, that basically means wearing a sweatsuit rather than shorts, and maybe some light gloves. On colder days you might want gloves that are more of a medium weight, and a ski cap is a good idea. On especially frigid days--wind chills below zero or so--you might even want to wear a ski mask. If you're like me, even on the coldest days you'll find yourself quickly getting too warm if you wear a heavy jacket, but if you're a little uncertain about whether just sweats, a hat or mask, and gloves will be enough, you might also wear a windbreaker to start out. A light jacket like this will be easy to take off and wear tied around your waist if you begin to get too warm after running for a few minutes.
This isn't specifically about clothing, but in the coldest weather it's also a good idea to choose a running route that makes a fairly tight circuit around your house, or wherever you are beginning and ending your run. This way you're never very far from home. You could get very cold if you made a long out-and-back kind of run and sprained your ankle somewhere close to the most distant point and had to slowly make your way back home. Also make sure to take water with you on long runs. You lose more fluids than you might expect in cold weather.
In hot weather, I'd say wear whatever socks and shoes you would prefer in temperate weather. For shirts and shorts, I find synthetic fabrics to be more comfortable than cotton. Cotton soaks up the sweat, gets wet and heavy, and binds, while the synthetic fabrics feel pretty light and dry throughout the workout. I'd recommend that you especially make a point of avoiding shorts made of cotton, since cotton shorts may chafe in hot weather as well as binding and getting sweat-soaked. It's possible that you may also find a lightweight, maybe vented, ball cap or golf cap to enhance comfort while running in hot weather, as it keeps the sun from beating down on your head. As with cold-weather running, take some kind of fluid with you on longer runs.
As far as manufacturers of clothing are concerned, I don't know of any outfit especially known for specializing in athletic clothing for extreme weather. All the clothing I discuss above, which I have found to work very well, is just regular workout clothing. One brand is probably about as good as another.
Thank you for all of the information. Maybe I will just look into getting a thicker pair of sweat pants for winter, I only have a thin pair that has the little air holes in the material. I have been wearing long underwear under them but then I feel bulky.
Good to know about synthetic material, I have always just worn cotton t-shirts.
The other day the air was too cold to inhale so I put my headband (a thick one that is meant to cover the ears) around my mouth. It actually worked pretty well.
My problem in cold weather is always that im coughing alot after inhaling alot of cold air... any way to counter that?
Cold air just makes some people cough. My daughter coughs very hard in cold, dry air, and I notice that it makes me cough sometimes too. One reason I don't like to run when it's cold like it is now is because of the coughing.
Some people wear a light face mask to keep their breath warm ... have you tried that?
yeah.... I'm kinda sensitive to it.... at the moment im only running on the treadmill and precor machines for cardio...
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