Winter Workout

Training isn’t easy during the winter, and there are many factors (the ones that go beyond adding winter holiday kilograms from family dinners) that can stymie a lifter’s progress during this season.

- Resh Marhatta

But you don’t have to give in to winter blues and lose out on all the gains you made during the summer, here are some tips and pointers that can help you survive the tribulations of winter training.

Make it intense

Of course that goes without saying, but you have to remember that the best way to encourage blood flow, (sarcoplasmic hypertroph) is to limit your rest intervals and focus on complete muscle exhaustion. That’s going to come from high lactate training methods that don’t involve much rest time. Training methods like ladder set training, 8x8 training, and German Volume training are just what the doctor ordered for low rest, high lactate methods. As a bonus, lactate production can help with elevating your testosterone, and also be responsible for burning plenty of fat. The take home point is to work lots, and rest little.

Take things slow and steady

The last thing you want to do is head out into the cold and go sprinting, jumping or running around with an insufficient warm up. When the temperature drops, it takes much longer for your working muscles to heat up, and for your joints to release fluid for lubrication. It’s best to play it safe and take things slow and steady. Go for the old school style of routine and structure your workouts with cardio runs, have on off days, and treadmill incline walks following your actual workouts.

Train the squat more than once per week