How to Prep in 6 Steps – What to Wear to CrossFit in the Winter

Don’t let the change in weather keep you from reaching your health and fitness goals! When it starts getting cold outside, the motivation levels needed to get out of a warm bed for an early morning workout definitely has to be kicked up a notch. But don’t you worry about what to wear to CrossFit in the winter because we have your back!

Especially if you have recently migrated from a warmer to cooler climate, you may have a lot of questions this winter when it comes to what to wear for your workout. Is there such a thing as too many layers? Will you regret the leggings when it comes time to workout? No matter what time you work out during the day, this list of how to prepare what to wear to CrossFit in the winter is sure to not keep you too warm, but just the right amount of toasty before the workout of the day.

So how exactly should you prepare for a winter workout?

How to Prepare
Quick Shopping Guide

How to Prepare:

1. Be Smart With Your Layers

Layers are your best friend during the winter months. The key here is to be smart with your layering, meaning be sure to wear your layers in a way that you can easily remove them. Stack them in the right order. For instance don’t wear a long sleeve shirt under your short sleeve tee. I go with the more layers the better approach. Sweatshirt, then long sleeve shirt, then tank top is my go-to layering situation to wear to CrossFit in the winter and it’s never steered me wrong.

2. Try Some New Color Combos

Ever tried leggings under running shorts? It kind of contradicts the above statement but on especially cold days, it can make you feel better to have just a little bit more clothing on your body. Not to mention, when it’s an especially sweaty workout, the shorts tend to cover up a bit of the sweaty crotch situation that can happen. Also, maybe you just want to extend the life of some leggings that have gotten a little thin around the buttocks area and shorts are the perfect way to cover up the tush!

Check out the weather for the day. Do you need long sleeve everything or could a long sleeve compression shirt with shorts do the trick? Or what about a vest? I’ve always thought of vests as something only runners wear (not sure where that idea came from?) but they really are a great base layer for those in-between cold type of situations.

3. Plan to Take More Time

Regardless of what you end up wearing to Crossfit in the winter time, try to plan a few extra minutes of warm up. With it being so much colder, your body tends to need more time to adjust and get your blood flowing before the workout. Try to be mindful of the importance of a good warm up when scheduling your workouts. I try to make lunch time workouts work for my schedule but I tend to be right on time or even a little late. In the winter, I may try to schedule my workouts differently so I can be sure to have that set amount of time to warm my body up.

4. Look and Prep

While you’re planning to take more time to warm up, also include some time to plan ahead what you’re going to wear. When you look up the workout for the day, is it mostly running? Then maybe you could be sure to bring along a beanie and or some gloves. Staying inside for the entire workout? You probably don’t need as many layers unless your gym doesn’t have heat which is fairly common for a box.

5. Hydration

Just because it is cold outside, doesn’t mean your body doesn’t need to stay hydrated in order to be its best self. Don’t forget to to still pack yourself a water bottle for your workouts, even if you don’t sweat as much during the WOD.

6. Put Them Back Where They Came From

By the end of the workout, you’re hot, sweaty and almost can’t wait to get into the cold to help you cool off. But try to resist the urge to step outside to head home without any of those great layers. Before you head out, at a minimum put on a long sleeve shirt or something to cover your chest area. You don’t want to be catching a cold and keeping yourself out of the gym now do you?