The sun had yet to come up in Edmonton, Alberta, and it was more than 20 degrees below zero. Tanis Smith layered up anyway, ready to run up and down hundreds of stairs among the trees in the Saskatchewan River Valley.
When she arrived at 6 a.m., 10 other people joined her. It wouldn鈥檛 be the last time they risked freezing their toes off to get in a workout before the rest of the world wakes up.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e pretty much just putting everything you own on,鈥� said Smith, an accountant. 鈥淚f you look at the pictures, you don鈥檛 know who you are unless you remember what you were wearing.鈥�
Since that winter of 2013, Smith has rarely missed a workout with the group, called , a network of free outdoor group exercise classes that started in Boston. No matter the month or weather, participants roll out of bed before dawn at least once a week and shield their faces from the blistering cold.
One part intense training and one part abject silliness, the project is a model for how to stay motivated throughout the winter.
It started when a pair of friends challenged each other to exercise every morning for the month of November. By the end of the month, they were recruiting others.
鈥淎 party is better when there鈥檚 more people around,鈥� said Bojan Mandaric, who created the project with Brogan Graham in 2011. 鈥淲e would talk to anybody who would listen.鈥�
Soon, their meetings were attracting a few dozen people, who then brought the idea to other cities when they moved. Now there are 52 chapters in eight countries, including 44 in the United States and Canada.
What do the workouts look like?
Workouts, which attract all ages and fitness levels, begin with a 鈥渂ounce,鈥� a hopping, call-and-response chant to loosen people up physically and mentally. How the classes continue varies on the location and day of the week, but most include running and body weight exercises like squats or burpees.
To promote the idea that exercise can be fun, they also might that would be at home during childhood recess in the schoolyard.
In Edmonton, they鈥檝e played an intense version of duck duck goose, gone sledding in winter and done Slip 鈥檔鈥� Slide in summer. One workout in Boston involved a kind of Easter egg hunt, where you search for plastic eggs at a sprint. Crack them open to find commands that could be, walk like a gorilla, do a cartwheel, or grab grass and dump it on Mandaric鈥檚 head.
The point is to lower inhibitions, which helps people make connections, said Jason Shaw, co-leader of the Indianapolis chapter.
鈥淣obody鈥檚 cool at November Project,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t different gyms, especially, you always have the people who just are so cool, or think they鈥檙e so cool. We try to nip that in the bud.鈥�
Shaw said chapters mark different milestones, much like Scout merit badges, by spray painting a tag on your shirt for, say, showing up on your first single-digit day.
But they don鈥檛 spray when it鈥檚 too cold. The paint freezes.
If you don鈥檛 have a chapter nearby, many cities offer some kind of running or outdoor exercise group, though many are not free. Otherwise, November Project organizers offered a few suggestions on how to stay motived to keep working through the colder months.
Find a workout buddy
Accountability is a core tenet of the project. Members make a verbal promise to show up, and there is almost a sense of letting down your teammates if you don鈥檛, said Mandaric, who moved to Boston from Serbia to row crew for Northeastern University.
Invest in some gear
There鈥檚 no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, Shaw said. At a minimum, buy a moisture-wicking base layer that will help keep you warm and dry. Avoid cotton, which keeps sweat in contact with your body and will make you colder. And add a top jacket with wind-breaking fabric.
Make it a habit
Commit to exercising on the same days and times for a month. Creating a predictable routine will help you get into a groove that is easier to maintain, Mandaric said.
Most of all, have fun
One of the things Smith appreciates most about the project is its social aspect. She called it 鈥渁 chosen family鈥� that was formed partly because they were having fun while exercising.
鈥淔itness doesn鈥檛 have to be this hard-nosed, drill-sergeant type thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can have fun and get fit.鈥�
EDITOR鈥橲 NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about wellness, food and travel. Find his work at https://www.albertstumm.com
Albert Stumm, The Associated Press
