Winter fitness tips: keep in shape with easy workouts despite weather conditions - includes related article on heart disease and Blacks

Ebony, Feb, 1990 by Vivien W. Pinn-Wiggins

Winter Fitness Tips

IN winter, people usually tend to shut down and conserve energy. They aren't as active or as physically fit as they are in summer. Such laxity, however, could affect their well-being. If you want to maintain good health, cut a trim figure or mold a sculpted body, don't let winter keep you from your regimen. And if you are among the 64 percent of Americans who don't exercise at all, winter is as good a time as any to get physical.

First, visit your doctor for a complete medical examination, including an exercise stress test. "We see more heart attacks among people in their 30s in the winter than we do in the summer," says Dr. Fred L. Daniels, a Chicago physician who specializes in internal medicine. "When some people feel good, they think they're in good health. So no one should start vigorous exercise or a winter conditioning program until he or she gets a medical examination."

Once you receive a doctor's clearance, set specific and realistic goals for an exercise program that suits your personality and physiology and especially one that you enjoy. You can choose from activities such as aerobic dancing, weight training, jogging, swimming, tennis, treadmill running, bicycling, walking or team sports like basketball. "Any form of calisthenics that would create perspiration and get your pulse rate up to 160 is recommended," Dr. Daniels says.

A regular workout schedule may help to motivate you to continue with your fitness program. As incentive, look to the positive results: more energy, increased muscle mass, endurance and tone, less body fat, improved health that could reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure and obesity, and greater resistance to stress and fatigue.

A minimum of three workouts of one hour per week could go a long way toward improving your health and thus your self-image. But there are precautions to heed. "If you exercise indoors, make sure the room has a good airflow or is properly ventilated," says Dr. Denese Shervington, a psychiatrist who is a fitness expert in Altamonte Springs, Fla., and a National Medical Association council member. "If you like to jog outdoors, wear several layers of light clothing and cover your head to trap body heat."

Prior to undergoing any strenuous exercise, you should warm up--running in place or on a treadmill--for about five to 10 minutes to avoid excess strain on the heart and injury to your muscles. Stretch the legs, upper body and the neck. (Moving your head backward and forward and to each side helps reduce tension.) Stretch gently and slowly without bouncing. Exercising should never be painful. Pay little attention to the overworked fitness anthem, "No pain, no gain." Instead, think of your activity as gain, no pain. Inadequate warm-ups and exercising too hard and too long can cause injuries to your muscles and joints.

"Your body will tell you if you're overdoing it," says Dr. Shervington, who exercises an hour and 15 minutes a day, six days a week with free weights because "it's the least boring of all exercises I've tried."

Regardless of what exercise program you choose, don't do too much too soon, and exercise regularly rather than sporadically.

Working out on fitness machines is an ideal way to begin strength and conditioning exercises without painful aftereffects, because you can begin with light weights and work your way up the program prescribed for you on a variety of devices. Start each workout slowly, gradually increasing tempo. Once you have worked up a sweat, be sure to cool down to pre-exercise level after working out.

"Staying in shape can be fun," says Dr. Shervington. "It also helps to ease depression and stress. It is a key to mental and physical health."