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I've been annoyed by my commercial gym lately, and have seriously been thinking of quitting my membership and just ordering a power rack and putting it in my garage.  My only problem is the winter and cold weather.  There are a few problems that show up during the winter for me:

1)  Snow doesn't let me get any jumps/dunks at outdoor hoops.  I'm forced to do standing jumps inside of my house if I don't have my membership(there is a court at the commercial gym).

2)  No indoor track anymore(not like the one in the gym was very good though, 30m each side) so no sprint work(not even drills) when there's snow.

3)  Wondering whether the cold will effect my training too much during the winter.  I'm not worried about comfort level, but I am worried about injuries because of the cold, and power development(shivering muscles, can't relax?).  I'm very used to warming up well, doing tons of soft tissue work, sprint drills, mobility drills, getting a good sweat going before I do a single jump/sprint/squat, but will the cold effect my joints and power development too much?

If anybody has any experience in training in the cold, I'm open for advice.  I really wanna make this work, because I just hate my gym and the people that work there, and the fact they only have 1 power rack(a nice one, but nothing else, no squat stands/racks, no half racks, nothing).  They even had the nerve to buy 34 more stationary bikes, instead of buying another power rack after many members requested one.

Edit: I live in Michigan, so it's pretty much guaranteed to snow a bit during the winter months

I used to train in the cold in boston, but if it snowed too much that meant no sprinting. With a little snow/slush we still ran hills in track and field. I don't know how to answer your question though, just bundle up I guess, wear thick socks.

Squatting in a garage is definitely not as bad as sprinting in some really cold weather, since you're still indoors.

THe other day I ran sprints into a headwind in relatively cold weather 40 degrees, and it sucked. So it made me angrier and that may have helped my workout. But it also stressed me out a tiny bit. So maybe the cold can make you angrier too

@Raptor Yeah, many are just looking for money nowadays.  It's a shame.

@Avishek Thanks for the feedback, hopefully when winter comes back again there won't be too many days below freezing.  I'll see if I can get track work when I can.  And yeah,  I thought that the cold would make me pissed off and make me feel more badass lol.

@LBSS  Do you really think a space heater would work?  I've got one, and I don't think it could heat my garage that much.  Maybe buy another one and use more than one?  I'm not completely sure on what to do yet.  Does it matter if it's electric or propane?  Mine is electric, but I would think propane would be warmer and more effective.

lol alright I gotcha.  I'll test it out myself a couple times.  Thanks.

I don't know how old you are but I would not recommend training outdoors in the cold if you're over 30.  Even with proper warmup & attire I would seem to pull something whenever I tried to do any sort of physical activity outside in the cold.

lol, I'm 16.  It's not completely outdoors though, in my garage, which is better I guess...  I here you though, the cold can really mess you up, I'll be sure to stay away from top speed sprints and other high intensity stuff when it's cold(if it's not snowing).

Quote from: Daballa100 on February 10, 2012, 09:15:04 pm

lol, I'm 16.

Huh?

I could've bet you're around 30 by the way you talk (write).

Yeah, my teachers and friends say similar things lol.  Hopefully that won't mean people take me less seriously on here.  I still read my share of books and articles, despite my lack of training age(~4 years).

lol, before I was training I was quite weak too, and was always picked last in gym class.  My 8rm was 95lbs when I started.  Puberty can do some great things