Battling The Cold Weather

Photo from Flikr-Dave Kilman

This week is apparently supposed to be one of the coldest weeks of the Winter here in New York City! If you have to travel all around the city like many personal trainers in NYC do, it’s not fun…that wind gust at 5 am is BRUTAL!

I thought it’ll be great idea to share some basic tools I found useful to keep me warm while traveling. The #1 rule for most personal trainers (during the winter) running around NYC is to keep the bulking clothing to a minimum. Below are 3 great tools I found to be VERY effective to stay warm and minimize the bulkiness. And if you’re work clothes doesn’t consist of T-shirts and shorts, don’t worry #2 and #3 will still be beneficial for ya.

Layering

Layering is key in NYC because we ride the subways, if you’re all bundled up in a heavy jacket, heavy sweater, and a thermal shirt, it’ll get damn hot, especially on the subway. To top that if it’s crowded forget about it, you don’t want hold bulky jackets and have people pissed that your stuff is in their face. The key is to get a good winter jacket but also have a great base layer like this:

Columbia Omni-Heat Base Layer

I’m now a big fan of the omni-heat, it actually does keep you warm but only after your body is heated up. It’s very thin, light, and does keep you warm! Good stuff and worth the money. Also this particular shirt runs REALLY tight so if you’re a medium you’ll want to get a size bigger.

Gloves

I used to cut a little slit through the index and thumb of my glove, this allowed me to still email as I was hopping around from client to client, while still trying to maintain warmth. But this past Christmas my Mom got me these smart touch gloves, initially I was very skeptical but they work great! You’ll definitely want to get a fitted one if you’re emailing a lot. I use the “North Face Etip Glove”, while it’s not the best at keeping you warm, it’s definitely fitted and works very well when typing.

Northface Etip Glove

Scarf

While this is common knowledge amongst mid-west and northern states, I’m from down south and have never worn a scarf…that is until I came up to New York. After a few years here, I came to the conclusion that scarves are awesome but the key is wrapping it the right way. Making sure to cover the chest and not allow heat to leak out will significantly help you maintain heat, clearly that’s the name of the game here. It’s also VERY easy to take off when you get on the subways, taxi, restaurant, or what not…which follows the rule of the non-bulky layering stated above.

That’s it for today, if you’re in NYC, get the items mentioned above, and stay warm!

Team Fusion