A personal trainer on why winter is the best time to exercise in Canberra
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Read that headline again…am I wrong Canberra?
Okay, it might be a little controversial for some, but hear me out (while you hide under your doona definitely not working out in “two degrees feels like minus five”).
Them jackets
The ACT really is one of the only states (and definitely the only territory) where people have a legitimate need for a puffer jacket. So why not get that cost per wear DOWN in these cossie livs times by putting your puffer jacket to WORK baybee?
I may be the ONLY Canberran yet to own a puffer jacket—honestly now it’s just a challenge—but I have the following fun jackets that bring me joy when rocking up to an icy workout: A Vinnies find that looks like a yeti-hair-jacket, a reversible jacket I never wash (surely the armpits just air out every time I wear it in reverse?) and a pink leopard print number with enough visual shock to wake up my fellow-frozen bleary eyed friends.
Indoors is…climate controlled
I have 18 years experience in the industry and the decline in attendance at the gym once the weather turns never ceases to amaze me. There is a direct correlation between 25 April (the day we “can” famously turn on our heaters) and a cliff-like decline in attendance at the gym.
I get that the treacherous 37 second trek from a warm bed, to a warm house, to a warm car can seem seismic at the time (see “two degrees feels like minus five”), but you do realise when you get to the gym it’s the same temperature ALL. YEAR. ROUND. Which brings me to the next point..
THAT crisp air at the end of a workout
There is something so invigoratingly blissful after building up a sweat INDOORS (just doubling down on the previous point) and then stepping outside into the cool, crisp air to cool off. Think of it like hot/cold therapy. It’s a thing.
Also, don’t listen to your Mum when she says “Put something on you’ll catch a cold”. Don’t want to catch a cold? Just don’t lick the gym door on the way out and let that cooooool air hit your hot skin.
You’ll boost your mood
This is an all year-round infinity benefit of exercise. But particularly on grey, cold, drizzly Canberra days when a hit of dopamine is what’s in order to lift your spirits. Exercise has been shown to boost dopamine (“happy hormone”)—and by the way, so does the “cold therapy” mentioned above. I mean just don’t OVERDOSE on the joys exercising right now in Canberra…
