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Health & Wellbeing
How Winter Impacts Sports Performance
May 02, 2024
Winter is on the horizon, which means your sports performance will be increasingly impacted by the cold weather. Below are some key challenges your body will face during this time, and our top tips to maximise your performance.
Increased Risk of Injury
Cold weather increases the risk of an injury occurring during sports. Exposure to cold air can decrease your alertness, cognitive performance, and visual ability, and slow your reflexes, meaning you may make more mistakes and be slower to correct them. Tight muscles are another issue caused by colder temperatures. This is why it is important to create an effective warm-up routine to prepare your muscles for movement. Once warm, you must stay warm by continuing to move and complete active stretches. A 10-minute warm-up has been shown to improve overall performance and reduce the risk of injury. Our brains change when we are exposed to the cold. One of these changes is that we become up to 40% less thirsty. It’s essential to stay hydrated even if you feel less thirsty. If you become dehydrated, this can increase your risk of muscle strains, joint pain, and cramps.
A Decrease in Muscle Coordination
When being active in the cold, you may feel like your joints are stiff or slow. This is because cold weather decreases muscle coordination. Having less muscle coordination can slow you down and make your movements less efficient. Studies have found that cold temperatures negatively impact athletes’ vertical jump and reaction times. This is another reason why staying warm is important for your performance.
Body Temperature Challenges
Maintaining your body’s correct internal temperature can be challenging in cold, wet weather. To combat this issue, try to wear multiple light layers when exercising and remove the layers once you have warmed up. Another important tip is to find clothing that is moisture wicking and breathable to ensure dampness does not impact your body's ability to maintain its temperature.
Summary
Cold winter weather can impact your performance in many ways from increasing the risk of injury to making it harder to maintain a stable body temperature. Being aware of these effects mean that we can take steps to mitigate the cold impact on our training and games. So, warm up, hydrate, layer up, and stay dry when training this winter.
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