Question: does your body get affected doing athletics in the cold

Helen Hanstock answered on 3 Nov 2016:

Hey Stewart! Thanks for the question!

Sure, there are some ways that the cold affects our bodies during exercise. We know that performance is reduced when the air temperature drops below about -5 degrees Celsius. Of course, if everyone is competing in the same conditions this might not have so much of an influence on a competition result. The optimum temperature for endurance running is around 10 degrees C and for cross country skiing (in full ski clothes) it is between 0 and -5. Any colder and athletes will gradually slow down. So why is this?

Firstly, if our muscles become cold they may become less efficient. Also, if we need to expend more energy to keep our bodies warm, then there is less energy available to provide for the muscle contractions that we use to drive our bodies forward. Cold particularly decreases our muscles’ ability to perform fast and powerful contractions, so training in the cold may be more of a problem for athletes training for explosive events than endurance events. So, it’s no wonder that top sprinters in the UK like to train indoors when possible during the winter!

Also, some people have difficulties breathing when the air gets very cold and very dry. It’s often referred to as exercise-induced asthma but it can actually affect people who don’t normally have asthma too. The cold and dry air causes dryness in the airways and this can cause a little inflammation and a sensation of tightness in the chest. So, this is another reason it can be a bit harder to do really intense exercise in the cold.

I think I experienced this a little myself tonight when I went for an interval running session with my training group in -5 C with the first snowfall of the winter on the ground! It definitely felt a little tougher than in summer but with the right clothing and footwear we were still able to go out and do a good training session!