Cold Air, Warm Core Published: Thursday, December 08, 2016 By: David Howatson-Begg It's that time of year again! The wonderfully brisk season where those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are exposed to the ice and snow of the chilly winter months. Along with the cold comes the sudden urge to hibernate, eat lots of turkey with cranberry sauce, drink and be merry, leading to the inevitable bloated/guilty feeling in our stomach. Luckily we have some tips to see you through the festive season that will help keep your core in shape and raise your temperature above freezing. Heat Those Hands and Feet During the frosty winter months, we are generally more inclined to train indoors. However, the outside world can’t be avoided - after all we need to build icy forts and snowmen, right?! Thankfully Power Plate has been clinically proven to boost circulation and improve cardiovascular function, providing a quick and effective way for you to regain some blood flow in those frozen fingers and toes. Performing some simple exercises such as squats, lunges, push-ups and triceps dips to heat up your muscles and extremities, will soon stoke the fire in your core. Alternatively, you could choose a relaxing, yet therapeutic massage to boost blood flow in specific areas that need some extra TLC. A little trick I use as part of my morning routine is to set my Power Plate to a frequency of 40-50Hz (based on my own personal tolerance and comfort) and raise the amplitude to 'High' then press my hands into the platform giving them almost instantaneous warmth. This quick warm up is my healthy alternative to a tempting mug of hot chocolate. Abs Activated Through rapid nervous system stimulation, Power Plate activates muscular tissue both in local areas of the body, such as single muscle groups, and globally by increasing participation of muscles throughout the entire body. Seeing is believing, and to view the activation process at its finest, watch this slow-motion footage of a core integrated push-up on Power Plate from our YouTube channel: We can’t out train a bad diet, but over the holiday season we encourage you to try out some of our core focused exercises on the Power Plate App (available to download now on iTunes App Store and Google Play), and the YourTrainer Virtual Trainer App (iTunes App Store and Google Play), and stay up to date by following Power Plate and our Master Trainer team on YouTube and across all of our social media platforms. Make it a warm December to remember! By David Howatson, Performance Health Systems UK Master Trainer Facebook: david_howatson Twitter: @howeyDPT Instagram: david_howatson