Brown Fat?

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 5 NOVEMBER '24

For those in the northern hemisphere, it's time to get your brown fat working! Brown fat?"Brown fat is a special type of fatty tissue found in little pockets under the collarbones, along the sides of the spine, and throughout the abdominal cavity close to internal organs", writes Robyn Fog for Backpacker online. Her article, "Yes, You Can Train Your Body To Handle The Cold. Here’s How" is an interesting discussion on how we can train ourselves to better handle the cold.

I love stumbling on articles like this. For many of us, we may feel quite confident about the effectiveness of doing certain things based on years and years of experience, family tradition and/or passdown of knowledge or mentorship from experts in their field. But to learn a bit more about the science of the 'why' is fun (and in my case as a professional endurance sports Coach, a necessity).

Robyn writes about brown fat's main purpose being "thermogenesis (the body’s ability to generate heat when exposed to cold)" and that with regular exposure to cold, our bodies will increase the amount of brown fat to help us keep warm. While she goes a bit more into the physiologic adaptations that occur with increased brown fat (all positive), I found it interesting that with just around 11 minutes a week of exposure (broken up in small time amounts throughout the week), we can immediately start producing more brown fat in our bodies.

Some suggested activities are the "trendy" cold plunge or 1.5 to 2 minute cold shower, walking outside in cooler temps in a t-shirt and shorts for a couple of minutes, sleeping in a cooler room (65 degree) or even rolling down the window while driving to a trailhead.

We have to be careful of overexposure, so common sense applies, but I find it all fascinating. For me, I feel my adaptation occurs with the onset of the backcountry ski season every year. After two weeks in single-digit temperatures, I notice a huge increase in comfort with very minimal two-layer apparel.

So if you're like me and feel the immediate impact of colder temps coming from the warm temperatures of summer, start some acclimation routines to help your body better handle the upcoming cooler season. Embrace your brown fat! ;)

Gratefully,  

Mark CEO Team MPI