Using the cold to your advantage

Anybody else annoyed with the weather? I sure as hell am. It's ok when you're a kid and you can run around having snowball fights and making snowmen, but when you're an adult, you got things to do!

Anyway, the bulk of my training gets done in my garage at the moment and it's freezing in there. Even though I'm wearing plenty of layers, including double socks, It's still difficult motivating yourself to work out in these conditions, but it has to be done. In fact it can be useful.

Apparently working out in a colder temperature is good for you as the body uses slightly more energy to warm itself up. This would result in using more calories than you would if you did the same workout at a warmer temperature.

It's the same principle when trying to fit your three litres of water in a day. Drinking cold water requires your body to warm itself, therefore using a few extra calories.

Hopefully that should be some motivation to get out of bed on these bitterly cold mornings!

Working out barefoot

It was a very busy week work wise last week and I was totally shattered by the weekend. Admittedly, I didn't do much running last week, but I still stuck with all of my weight workouts, despite my freezing cold garage, and did quite a bit of cardio work on the punch bag too.

One thing that I've been doing for a few months now and I'd highly recommend is working out barefoot. The theory behind this one is that when working with weights, you need to have a solid, supportive core structure, from your chest and abs, down to your legs and feet. Working out barefoot actually helps to develops muscles in your feet while you workout the other muscles in your body, so in a way it doubles your workout just by taking your trainers off. It makes for stronger feet to support the rest of your body.

I guess this is the way caveman would've trained back in the day, walking and running barefoot. Ideally, if you like to run, running on a soft surface barefoot would be the ultimate way to strengthen your feet, but unfortunately that environment isn't available to everyone.

Try working out barefoot for a week and see how you get on. I found it tough at first, but months later, my feet honestly feel stronger for it. I can feel the difference, especially in squats, lunges and calf raises. Trainers squash and mould your feet in an unnatural position, going barefoot allows them to breathe and be free they way they should be.