ORLANDO, Fla. – January, and even February, are usually the coldest months of the winter season and maybe the entire calendar year. It’s also peak season for colds, the flu, and other respiratory illnesses.
Right now, the flu is surging towards potentially new heights not only here in Central Florida but across the northern hemisphere.
What if I were to tell you, the cold isn’t the enemy?
Believe it or not, it’s our inactivity that leaves us far more vulnerable to the bugs that will tear us down from the inside out.
The cold and flu do tend to thrive in areas where it’s consistently cold out. Our temperatures will be warming up over the next few days, before they tumble once again towards the start of February.
Cold air has a tendency to really dry us out. For example, cold air dries nasal passages and reduces our natural defense to things like the sniffles.
Right now thanks to our lovely time change, we’re also seeing shorter days and more night across town. Naturally, because of our body’s circadian rhythm, we find ourselves indoors and maybe on the sleepier side a little earlier than normal.
We also do a lot of clustering indoors! The holidays pack us into tiny spaces with friends and family, the majority who probably just battled through airports and airplanes or rental cars with only so much sanitation that can be done.
It’s also a lot easier to snooze your morning alarm and sleep in a little extra instead of getting out for your daily run, jog, or workout at the gym before starting your day officially.
I can openly admit, I’ve done this once or twice, especially during our harder freeze days.
We can combat all these germs trying to knock us down just like our afternoon temperatures after a cold front.
It’s been scientifically proven countless times that exercise during colder bouts of weather actually has numerous health benefits. The number one being a solid dose of immunity boosting qualities, like a surplus of white blood cells to fight off any bug attempting an internal invasion.
Bundling up, and getting to the gym for some light to moderate exercise does in fact improve blood flow greatly, and allows your body to multiply the amount of white blood cells it produces.
If you’re a runner, and don’t want to suffer boredom on the treadmill at home or at your local gym, getting outdoors and maintaining your training will actually strengthen the cardio gains you make before spring and summer rolls in.
Cold temps cause blood vessels to constrict (think the R.I.C.E. method after an injury, or when you submerge in an ice bath post workout). So if you’re out running at a moderate pace, it causes your heart and lungs to work a little harder.
As a result, you’re actually unintentionally increasing your workout intensity without actually changing your pace. Your heart and other cardiovascular components are already training harder to combat the colder temps you’ve been immersed in.
So when summertime comes in, you’d be surprised how much more conditioned you come out in the long term! I fully intend on taking advantage of this myself.
The cold weather also naturally offers joint support for some. While we’ll talk about the critical need for a warm up before a workout, you may feel a lot loss general inflammation before, during, and after your activities.
Soaking up some cold weather vitamin D is also huge for a lot of us! While it won’t help with a significant deficiency if you have one, it’s a lot better and more noticeable than simply staying indoors the full duration of a winter season.
We do reside in the Sunshine State after all, right?
You’ll also find yourself sleeping a lot better. The combo of cracking a window open at night, snuggling up in some warm covers in bed, after a long days work and some training thrown in on the side? Those extra zzz’s will be inevitable.
Now, on to what I caution as the MOST important component of this whole ordeal.
WARM UP, WARM UP, WARM UP!
Forgive me for the all caps, I promise I say those words kindly. But I speak from experience unfortunately when I say an improper warm up can have lethal consequences.
I spent this past weekend in Norfolk, Virginia training with my Navy weather unit. Long story short, without a proper warm up I ended up with a pretty bad tear in my left hamstring muscle.
Even more reason to ensure you’ve properly hydrated, rested, stretched, and got the blood pumping before getting in some very important exercise. As we get older, the days of being able to jump right into any sort of activity get further and further behind us.
To round it all out, these cold snaps here across Florida actually do wonders for other outdoor factors that may influence your desire to be out and about walking, jogging, or running. You can find those somewhat surprising benefits HERE.
[VIDEO: A Florida freeze isn’t always bad. Here are 3 things it helps with]
Please feel free to drop me a line via email. I would absolutely love to delve into my personal training background alongside my career in meteorology to set you up for success not only in terms of getting healthy during such a cold phase of the year, but also chasing down those goals you established for 2026!