I’m stuck lifting in my open air garage on a self-made squat rack. There’s about 6" of snow outside and it’s currently 10 degrees and it’ll get colder. I sweep the snow out of the rack and get lifting, but I am pretty worried about hurting myself by lifting in the cold.
I currently keep my bar inside and take it out only to lift. But besides a good warmup what can I do? Should I come inside between sets or just stay moving outside? It takes a few sets to get my body temp up too so should I do calistinics as warmups in the house or should I warm up like it’s the middle of summer?
I normally lift in shorts, a sweater and cons. I tend to feel alright except for my fingers and toes. Should I throw on some heavy clothes and boots and sweat my butt off?
I have the opposite problem lifting in 100oF + temperatures in an open garage. Whilst I use a fan and drink plenty cold water it’s still hard going, if anyone has any good suggestions about combatting the heat please lets hear them.
When I workout in my garage gym I get both extremes depending on the time of season.
For the summer:
I installed an overhead fan and run four other fans criss-crossing the space. I use and ice pack like Iron Dwarf suggests and drink lots of cool water. I have seen my body weight change as much as three pounds after a hot summer workout. So plenty of water means more than what your thirst dictates.
For the winter:
I went ahead and finished the garage walls and insulated them as well as the ceiling. I workout in the evening so I go out and turn on a couple space heaters as soon as I get home so they can run for an hour or two before I go out. I bring in the bars as well so they are warmed up and dont freeze to my skin. I try not to wear cotton or anything that absorbs sweat. No matter how cold it is I still sweat like crazy and wet clothes drive me nuts.
I train in an unheated garage during winter, where temperatures often hit freezing. My tip is to dress like your going hill walking. Avoid cotton sportswear. Get a decent base layer (one that’s long enough to cover the lower back while squatting, etc), that wicks moisture away from the body, then a fleece or two, which performs the same function, as well as a hat.
Tracksuit bottoms are usually sufficient for the lower half
I find this sufficient to have a good workout undistracted by the chills. However, it also depends on the workout. During a recent phase I was resting three minutes between low-rep sets, and this meant popping on another fleece jacket between sets and doing some mobility work.
For some reason I train well in such conditions. During summer months (well, a few days in Scotland!) the garage turns into the Sahara. This means training in my underpants only. What a sight!!!