My Office Is So Cold the Lactic Acid FREEZES.

July 8, 2008 12:11 PM

So I've started a new, pretty hard-hitting exercise regime (bootcamp, if you wanted to know) and I'm sore as crap, and my office is excruciatingly cold. I'm trying to figure out how to mitigate this, since the cold is making my muscles clench up and that, you know, does not feel good.

Things I can't do-

1) Turn the thermostat up past 72. People will bitch and then turn it back down.

2) Space heater, for obvious reasons.

3) Not work out until I am no longer sore.

FWIW, I did not have this problem yesterday, but yesterday I went home where I can make sure the house is not so cold as to send me into gales of shivering.

I was thinking blanket for my legs (I am already wearing a sweater), maybe an electric blanket. Is this a really awful idea for reasons I don't know? I know that hot yoga is supposed to be good because it facilitates better stretching with the being hot part, and I don't want to get THAT hot, but even with getting up frequently, eating meals outside, and stretching today, my legs are ridiculous. Sorry if this seems stupid, but I've just not been in this particular situation before and I don't want to do something stupid out of ignorance. Any other suggestions that do not involve Ben-Gay (since I do have coworkers, who are apparently also Polar Bears) are very, very welcome.

posted by Medieval Maven to sports, hobbies, & recreation (18 comments total)

Drink some hot [green] tea?
posted by aeighty at 12:19 PM on July 8, 2008

Wool tights under your pants.
posted by amro at 12:21 PM on July 8, 2008

2nding amro. Long underwear helps a lot. You can get a really thin, light pair. (It can stretch out your normal clothing though.) Layers, layers, layers.

When I was exercising too much and didn't quite have my food figured out yet, layers totally saved me.

Also, eat healthy fats. Your body burns fat for heat. Some people swear by raw dairy to survive the winter.

Also, 15 minutes of intervals (1 minute heart rate up, 1 minute recover or something similar) in the morning can make you generate more heat (and burn more calories) during the day.
posted by zeek321 at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2008

Blanket or warm tights, then remove them before you leave the office if it's very hot out.

Also, an active warm-up with good static stretching after your workout and plenty of potassium will help mitigate the soreness. You will probably be sore for the first week or so and then as your body adapts it will leave. It is (usually) a temporary effect of starting a new program.
posted by schroedinger at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2008

This is kinda crazy looking but I sometimes wear driving gloves when my hands are so cold that I can't type right.

You can use space heaters if you are very carefull, here are my company's rule's for space heaters that won't burn down the place:

 Must be a ceramic type

 Must have an individual thermostat control

 Must automatically shut the fan off if the airflow becomes obstructed

 Must have a safety shutoff mechanism if tipped over IN ANY DIRECTION

 Must have a UL or other national testing laboratory approval decal

 Combustible materials, such as furniture, paper, boxes, trash cans, clothes and other fabric-covered items must be kept at least three (3) feet from the front of any heater, and a clearance of not less than six (6) inches must be maintained from the side and back of any heater

 The heater must also be kept at least three feet away from the computer "box/tower" (the CPU - central processing unit)
posted by stormygrey at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I can't have a space heater at work either. I was tempted to bring in a an electric blanket because I was so cold, but I felt silly. Instead, I bought an electric hot pad at the drug store that I keep on my feet in the winter. Keeping my tootsies warm made all the difference.
posted by juliplease at 12:45 PM on July 8, 2008

silk longjohns. Lightweight, so they'll fit under your clothes and they're cosy and surprisingly warm.

Also, you're not going to be as sensitive to the cold as your routine progresses. Intensive exercise makes lots of people more sensitive to cold, but it gets better. It's barely noticable and shorter duration after a few weeks.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:14 PM on July 8, 2008

Get up and walk around for a few minutes each hour. It'll help with both the soreness and the chilliness.
posted by 26.2 at 1:18 PM on July 8, 2008

Take some ibuprofen, for crying out loud.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:27 PM on July 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Make a few rice-filled heating pads? That is, if you have access to a microwave.
posted by studentbaker at 1:49 PM on July 8, 2008

Hot pad or charcoal toe-warmers. Warm feet are the key.
posted by desuetude at 1:53 PM on July 8, 2008

Take 4 Advil. That's the equivalent of 1 "prescription strength" ibuprofren.
posted by Zambrano at 2:02 PM on July 8, 2008

Get up and warm yourself up with some jogging in place, arm circles, bends, etc. Flex, extend, and contract whatever's sore. Blood flow = healing.
posted by crunch buttsteak at 2:05 PM on July 8, 2008

I coach bootcamps 4 days a week, and I'll second (and third) a lot of the suggestions above:

1. Layers for warmth
2. Get up and move every hour, it will help keep you warm and help with the soreness
3. Advil/Ibuprofen in moderation, but only for a few days

The soreness will ease after a week or so, if it doesn't go talk to your coach and explain what's going on. They should be able to offer modified versions of the various exercises until you're strong enough to do them unmodified.
posted by dolface at 2:55 PM on July 8, 2008

Use some arnica for the muscle soreness - works better than the icy hot stuff.
posted by mulkey at 11:12 PM on July 8, 2008

Polypropylene long thermal underwear. The stuff is amazing. You can walk around in snow and not feel cold.
posted by flabdablet at 11:34 PM on July 8, 2008

Eat some spicy food, it will crank your metabolism up for 3 hours.
posted by mhuckaba at 12:14 AM on July 9, 2008

A wool blanket, hot drinks and thick socks should do the trick. Warm feet are definitely the key, like desuetude said.
posted by saturnine at 1:37 PM on July 10, 2008