It is often difficult to find the motivation to (re)start sport when it is cold. However, winter is an ideal time to practice physical activity. From health benefits to social connection to general well-being. We give you 6 good reasons to get started without hesitation.
1. Sport, the health asset to brave winter
Good for the heart, good for sleep, good for fighting infections,… Sport has undeniable and recognized benefits. Essential assets in winter when the cold is here and the immune system needs to be strengthened. For Doctor Michel in Istres: “It’s undeniable, people who do sports in winter, even in small doses, 35 minutes 3 times a week, are in better shape. We see them very little in the doctor’s office. They are healthy. Someone who exercises at a more stable BMI and can only be healthy“.
2. Before Christmas: feel good in your head and create social connections to avoid depression
Sport allows you to feel better in your body but also in your mind during winter with the production of endorphins and dopamine. As Maylis Carme, mental trainer in Vitrolles, recognizes: “sport does a lot of good for the body but also mentally and perhaps even more during the fall and winter because it is a period when we had a fairly heavy load after the start of the school year in September which had quite a bit of impact. The arrival of autumn, especially around the time change, has an impact on the brightness and morale. Sunshine durations are shorter. Many people experience moments of fatigue or slight depression. Morale is down so it’s good to go and do sports to clear your mind and clear your head.“.
For those who feel alone or worried as the holidays approach, sport is also a good way to create social connections. “The end-of-year holiday period is a lot of excitement for those who like to prepare for these family moments, these moments of reunion, but it can also cause a drop in morale.explains Maylis Carme. So being in a group, seeing people, laughing is important for well-being and mood. By doing a team sport or going for example for a walk or run in a group we can find ourselves talking about everything and nothing, we focus on pleasant things. Sport is a way to feel good, to get out of your daily routine and to find a little fun.“
3. Feel less guilty about excesses during the holidays
Who says end-of-year celebrations often means excess between drunken evenings and hearty meals. Doing sport allows you to suffer less from these excesses by burning off color and limiting possible weight gain. “It’s obviousfor Doctor Michel in Istres. Thanks to sport, energy inputs and outputs counterbalance each other. It’s very useful to have a basic sporting activity and to know how to reinforce it when you know you’re going to overindulge. We too often see people gain 3/5 kg in winter because they are too sedentary, binge on sugar, alcohol, and spend their time in front of the TV.“.
4. Anticipate good resolutions for January 1st
According to a survey carried out last year by Doctissimo, 42% of French people want to “take up or return to sport” in their New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions rarely kept! Anticipating the sporting resolution allows you to get started without putting pressure on yourself for Maylis Carme, a big fan of nature raids abroad like the “Raid Amazones”: “Unconsciously, we no longer believe that our good resolutions will last over time. We get started but a part of us tells ourselves that we won’t succeed and that in 30 days we will have stopped! We must therefore call this “resolution” differently because the weight of the words is important. It is better to call it “setting in motion”, “choice”, “will”,… just the word has an impact on our brain. And the fact of anticipating, of starting a “set in motion” before the end of year holidays and January 1st – which gives the starting point of a new chapter, of a new blank page – this allows us to consolidate and solidify why we do it! It allows you to say to yourself “I started this work at the end of the year because I know that I am preparing for next year in advance”. It can anchor a habit before entering this famous new year and having already undertaken things that we are finally proud of and it will actually allow it to last over time.
5. The “summer body” is now
An Ifop survey revealed last year that 93% of French people like to prepare their body before summer. For those who aim to be “fit” next summer, you shouldn’t wait to start exercising. It takes several months of effort to see results, as Jérôme Morvan, a private sports coach (Endeavor Coaching) in Châteauneuf les Martigues and the surrounding area, confirms: “of course the summer body we hear it on everyone’s lips but often too late. It’s the right time to prepare it. It’s not done a month or two in advance but more than 6 months in advance to arrive in summer and take advantage of it. It’s happening now! It will be even more effective because with the cold we have an additional energy expenditure, the body fights the drop in temperatures and burns calories.”
6. The little extra reason: give gift ideas!
Starting a sporting activity now may give you or others gift ideas for Christmas. A little extra pleasure and a significant asset for those who are short of ideas as the end-of-year holidays approach!
Watch the video interview with Jérôme Morvan, private sports coach in Châteauneuf
Example of two health sports to try this winter: CrossFit and Hyrox
The CrossFit
It often has the image of a sport that is too difficult to practice, and yet it is the health sport par excellence and accessible to all: for several years, CrossFit has experienced enormous growth in France. Boxes (CrossFit rooms) have opened everywhere offering constantly varied sessions mixing gymnastic, endurance, cardio and weightlifting exercises. For almost 10 years Aurélien Pradon has been coach-owner at CrossFit Istres and CrossFit Muge in Martigues: “It’s true that you have to have the mental trigger to say to yourself that I’m starting sport. CrossFit is in fact the basic health sport, good for neurological coordination, good muscularly. It’s adapted from A to Z. Any person can start at any time, whether they are overweight, whether they have never done sport. There is no month or day to start sport. . Too many people say that it is in September or January that you have to start an activity but no, it can be done all the time!
The advantage of CrossFit is that it is supervised and in a group, it is easier to get started than to start an activity alone in your corner. Another big advantage is the community aspect of CrossFit, you belong to a group and you practice with friends or people you like, who have the same vision as you of sport and well-being. And for those who want to try it, we offer three free sessions, which allows you to better discover this activity and see if you like it.”.
L’Hyrox
It appeals to both CrossFit and running enthusiasts! It’s a new sporting discipline which is booming and mixes running and cross-training workshops. “You have to do 8 times a km of running interspersed with functional movements, such as burpees, rowing machine, sled (sled) to push and pull, wall balls, ski erg, etc.” specifies Guilhem Siné head coach at CrossFit Nostradamus affiliated with Hyrox (see our full report here).
“It’s a health race. All the movements are adapted, everyone can come, we can attack whenever we want. Sometimes, it’s a little grating when you have to run when it’s cold, but in general, the people play the game.”
Advice from our specialists: how to get started in a sporting activity in winter?
Doctor Michel: “It is better to exercise in the morning than in the evening. In the evening we have less energy and we stimulate a system tired from the day. You should also avoid doing sports during pollution peaks. In winter we can sometimes have a layer of chemical pollutants in the city, it’s not good to breathe that. So this is something to watch out for. I also recommend spending a few days in the mountains every year to escape pollution, get some fresh air, and clear your head. In winter you have to think about these holidays.”
Maylis Carme: “The first thing I recommend for people who are not used to doing sports is to go with other people. It’s more difficult to keep going when you do it. alone. You can have a lot of motivation at the beginning but after that it fades, you can quickly give up. Whereas in a group we commit to someone else, it allows us not to ask too many questions. If we have a date with someone we go there. go more easily. We must also focus on the notion of pleasure. It will allow us to continue over time. We must engage in an activity that provides pleasure.
Jérôme Morvan: “You have to take sport like a game, it’s a way to have fun, to pass the time rather than sitting in front of the TV or a console. Of course when you’re followed by a professional it’s more fun , we avoid small injuries We avoid excess or not doing enough And then it’s good to go there with others, just to motivate each other..
Update to our article published in December 2023
