Is working out in the cold really more effective than regular gym sessions?

Figuring out how to train in inclement weather.

As the cold weather approaches, many people stop exercising outdoors and start working out at home. However, outdoor exercise is often more effective.

There are two types of fat in the human body: white and brown. The first stores energy that is needed for emergencies, and the second, on the contrary, releases this energy and ensures a constant level of body temperature. It is this fat that helps newborns regulate the temperature balance while their thermoregulation systems are not yet fully formed.

Adults also have it, but it is much less. However, scientists are looking for ways to increase its amount, hoping to activate natural mechanisms to fight obesity and related diseases.

Australian researchers have proven that staying in the cold for 10-15 minutes can make fat "work as it should". So, in their experiment, lightly clothed volunteers stayed in a cool room with decreasing temperature. And at about 16 degrees, their muscles started shivering from the cold, trying to prevent heat loss.

It turned out that shivering muscles produce the hormone irisin, which causes white fat cells to release heat and burn stored calories, that is, to fulfill the role of brown fat.

During exercise, this hormone is also produced, but it takes more time.

Of course, to lose weight you do not need to freeze in the street, but sometimes you can conduct training in the fresh air. However, you need to dress properly for them.

By the way, the rate of burning calories also depends on the time. Thus, the body spends the least amount of energy from four to six in the morning, and the most - from 17:00 to 20:00.