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Too Cold to Exercise? Try Another Excuse

JULIA HENSLEY, a 41-year-old artist, got a taste of bitter cold a decade ago when she spent a winter living on a glacier near Seward, Alaska. Typical winter temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees below.

“The first time it got really cold, I was scared of it,” Ms. Hensley said. “My instinct was to get a stack of books and curl up beside the wood stove.”

But a boyfriend persuaded her to go out anyway, to cross-country ski or snowshoe for hours in deep snow. He taught her, she said, that as long as she kept moving, she would be fine.

it turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold.

“The big question was, ‘Is it ever too cold?’” Dr. Castellani said. “The answer is no.

There really isn’t a point where you can tell people it is not safe anymore.”