Do I burn more calories if I exercise in the cold?

Medilia
Medilia Posts: 230 Member
edited January 1 in Fitness and Exercise
It was just a thought I had this morning when I went for my walk. It is freezing today and I went in my usual get up of 3/4 leggings and a black singlet top. Would my body have burnt extra calories getting itself warm in the cold and maintaining that warmth as I went?

Replies

  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Hmmm. Good question. I always thought you worked harder when it was really hot. But, it might be both.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    For me personally, I burn more when it's hot out.
  • cal_73
    cal_73 Posts: 77 Member
    Yes, your body uses more energy when either colder or hotter than "normal" (somewhere around room temperature).
  • shirerose
    shirerose Posts: 116 Member
    some dude did a study... i don't have the specifics because i heard about it on the radio a while back... but he would take ice baths. he lost a whole bunch of weight because he burned so many calories trying to stay warm. but it's extremely dangerous haha... because... well... you can die. BUT! what i'm getting at is that you are probably on to something. i wouldn't be surprised if you burn more while exercising in the cold.
  • Katbody10
    Katbody10 Posts: 369 Member
    You burn more calories when you're cold - to keep warm. People often mistake that they're burning more when it's hot - but they're actually losing more water due to excessive sweating/perspiring. They'll drink that back as soon as they go for the water bottle or Gatorade .. A good sweat is a good indicator that you worked hard and burned those calories .. you may not notice it as much when you're cold, but you're burning to keep warm as well as the fuel required to perform the exercise :happy:
  • Medilia
    Medilia Posts: 230 Member
    Awesome. Too bad this cold weather is just a phase. Spring had sprung and then took a sharp left and gave winter back.
  • cheerchicksie
    cheerchicksie Posts: 51 Member
    yeah. it's true (But not like completely proven) because your body burns calories to maintain temperature (shivering, etc.)

    but whenever it is winter i'm definitely working out outside for that reason haha!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Yes. And the colder, the better. You get an extra 100 cals an hour when the shivering from hypothermia sets in. And people are sleeping on what an awesome little tummy tightener pneumonia is. So drop that jacket, wet your hair and let's go!
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Technically you do but it's not worth worrying about.
    some dude did a study... i don't have the specifics because i heard about it on the radio a while back... but he would take ice baths. he lost a whole bunch of weight because he burned so many calories trying to stay warm. but it's extremely dangerous haha... because... well... you can die. BUT! what i'm getting at is that you are probably on to something. i wouldn't be surprised if you burn more while exercising in the cold.
    ^It's covered in that psycho Tim Ferriss's '4-hour body' book if you're interested.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Google "Jack Kruse" for more...

    ...but he's a little, uh, *quirky* too.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    ^It's covered in that psycho Tim Ferriss's '4-hour body' book if you're interested.

    A good book, but bonkers in places :)

    Kruse is definitely 'quirky'.

    The body isn't a closed system in thermal equilibrium, so, yeh, the environment has an effect on energy expenditure.

    Is it worth it? Hmmmm, not sure, it's pretty close to people chugging cold water hoping to burn a mountain of calories ... a.k.a. The Weird Zone.
  • Larisonlj
    Larisonlj Posts: 426 Member
    According to my HRM, I do. I also burn more when it's extremely hot. Situations where your body is working harder to heat you or cool you you're going to burn more. Significant numbers? Maybe not.
  • chelledawg14
    chelledawg14 Posts: 509 Member
    Good question - thank you! Can't wait to get out there and run on Saturday to check this out!
  • pucenavel
    pucenavel Posts: 972 Member
    I know I'm more tired after a mile swim in the lake in spring (water temp = 65) than I am in mid-summer (75-80).
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    interesting. another reason to like winter over summer :bigsmile:
  • NZhellkat
    NZhellkat Posts: 355 Member
    From experience, I could jog for 45 mins in winter back In New Zealand and not have to drink until I got back to the house. But the same here in Florida has me drinking at least 32oz of fluid as I try to stop my body from overheating. If I don't get the hydration right then I end up with a nasty headache for the rest of the day.

    Your body needs to be at as close to 'normal' temp as possible to function at it's best. So you burn more calories getting your body up to temp without having to worry to much about hydration the way you would if your body is trying to cool itself down to work at peak.

    But like I said, that's just from my experience. I trained in Kung Fu, biked 11km each way to work every day, jogged for 45 mins every weekday morning,and one long hill run in the weekend. And that was before I had to up it for black belt training.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    According to my HRM, I do. I also burn more when it's extremely hot. Situations where your body is working harder to heat you or cool you you're going to burn more. Significant numbers? Maybe not.

    That's not really an accurate way of assessing that- your HR is higher to cool the body- but the algorithm used by the HR monitor depends on the oxygen exchanged for the activity- your HR does not directly affect calories burned, it's just correlated So, you will burn a couple (likely insignificant) more calories, and your HRM may read the calories burned as higher, but it's inaccurate because your muscles aren't using more oxygen for the activity.

    I;m not sure I explained that well enough to be clear. :ohwell:
  • hellohappylisa
    hellohappylisa Posts: 141 Member
    Huh. Never thought about it! Definitely an interesting thought!
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    I'm so happy to read this because I love a cool place and even a fan blowing on me when I workout, true!
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I live in Anchorage, Alaska and it was 34 degrees earlier and I burned 640 calories....hmmmm......
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    I would say no. Say you did the same workout in the heat and cold. Both exercise cause your body to heat up. In the heat your body would begin to sweat to regulate and reduce heat but in the cold you would start sweating much later or not at all but the energy burned would be basically the same.

    Now if you were simply standing in the cold vs the heat the answer may be different but you have to remember that while the body increases temperature to combat cold it does it by drawing blood form your limbs into your core. So the calorie burn is probably close to the same.
  • Inforthelonghaul
    Inforthelonghaul Posts: 33 Member
    When in the military I did several winter tours in Norway, our ration packs were 6500 calories per day. We spent much of the time living in snow holes and skiing with very heavy bergans. When in base camp we ate Danish pastries until they came out of our ears.

    The net result? I lost loads of weight, everybody did. So in answer to your question, from my experience, yes you burn more calories in the cold.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    And not necessarily for the calorie burn, but I frequently enjoy "cold soaks" as a recovery method. And yeah, I still log the calorie burn.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,758 Member
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/calories-cold-weather_n_1096331.html

    Yes and no
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
    No. Or rather, it's a negligable amount.
This discussion has been closed.

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