What a week it’s been! White stuff everywhere, and Edinburgh slowed down to walking pace. The roads are quiet, strangers say hello to each other in the street. This is very well and good, but what does it mean fitness-wise?
Cardio-wise, snow is great for getting your heart rate up. It’s become pretty tricky to drive, so many are resorting to walking. A fast walk in the snow can get you into the ‘fat burning’ training zone. You’ll find that you need to concentrate on balancing and therefore holding in your core musles. Engaging these extra muscles means your body is working harder and therefore your heart rate is elevated. So it’s a great aerobic workout.
Yesterday I did a Personal Training session on the beach at Portobello. The workout involved running the length of the beach in calf depth snow to warm up, then sprint drills with strength exercises. I’ve never exercised in snow on the beach, and it was slightly different from exercising on a beach in Oz. Running in the soft snow is like running on sand, but a bit chillier.
Snowy PT session at Portobello Beach
A fab leg strength exercise that can be best done in snow is bunny hops – seriously, try it! Go to a park (or beach) where there is some soft snow, pick an object in the middle distance, and bunny hop to it. It’s a killer on the quads, will get your heart rate up, and is frankly, is just good fun. So get out there and try a snow workout, a workout like snow other…
