Have you ever noticed that during the winter, your muscles feel tighter, joints ache more, and motivation feels non-existent? There’s a reason for that, and it’s not you, it’s the weather. The colder months influence our physiology, from blood flow to muscle elasticity to mood regulating hormones.

Understanding why your body reacts differently in winter can help you and your care team make small adjustments that keep your recovery on track.

1. Reduced Circulation and Cold Weather

When temperatures drop, your body prioritizes warmth by shunting all the blood away from your extremities. This is an effort to preserve core body temperature, delivering less blood to the skin, hands, feet, and superficial muscles. This means that less warm, nutrient-rich blood flows to the limbs and joints.

That can make muscles feel stiffer, respond more slowly, and take longer to recover. When your muscles are cold, it reduces maximal strength, and your ability to move quickly. Patients may notice that movement feels harder, joints tighter, or therapy requires more effort when it’s cold outside.

How you can adapt: Before a therapy session or home exercise on a chilly day, take 5-10 minutes to warm up with some light movement to increase circulation. If you’re at home, be sure the thermostat is set to at least 70 degrees.

2. Joint Stiffness Due to Air Pressure

If you’ve ever heard someone complaining of joint pain with impending cold fronts or storms, it’s not just some old wive’s tale. Changes in barometric pressure is what causes this pain. Barometric pressure drops ahead of cold fronts and storms, which reduces the pressure exerted on the outside of your joints.

In turn, the parts of the joint that are inflamed (like muscles, tendons, or ligaments) may expand slightly. In joints that have less space due to scar tissue, inflammation, arthritis, or recent surgery, this increases the sensation of tightness and discomfort. Cold temperatures can also reduce the liquidity of the joint fluid, restricting movement.

How you can adapt: Before therapy or home exercise, make sure you warm up the affected area with some movement. You can also use things like heat packs or hot showers to reduce stiffness. If you’re headed in for therapy, let your therapist know that you’re feeling more stiff than usual, so they can adapt your activities for that day.

3. Seasonal Affective Disorder Decreases Motivation

Recovery isn’t just physical, it’s also a mental hurdle. When days are dark, short, and cold, you may notice a drop in your motivation. That’s likely due to Seasonal Affective Disorder. When daily sunlight hours decrease, our circadian rhythms shift and more melatonin (your body’s sleep hormone) is produced. At the same time, serotonin (a happy hormone) falls. Together, this makes you feel sleepy, unmotivated, and maybe even a little depressed.

But you still have to show up for yourself and your therapy if you want to get better. Your brain and body may be asking you for more rest, but there are some ways you can combat the effects of those dark and cold winter days.

How you can adapt:

• When you’re feeling unmotivated, the last thing you want to do is exercise, but exercise also helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder. Exercising releases key chemicals, including endorphins, that make you feel happier and more alert.

• Aim for early morning light exposure by sitting near a window or going for a walk. This can help your body produce more energy in the morning and reset your circadian rhythm.

• Keep your schedule consistent. That means waking up, going to therapy, and going to bed at the same time every day.

• Incorporate fun or social movement where possible. Linking movement to enjoyment or connection helps sustain motivation.
  

4. Cold Air Causes Moisture Loss

For the most part, we associate dehydration with sweltering summer days, but cold weather affects your hydration too. Being dehydrated affects all kinds of bodily processes, including those needed for healing, like tissue repair, circulation, and resilience.

In colder months, here’s how the weather affects your fluid balance:

• Cold, dry air holds less moisture than warm air, so if you breathe more rapidly or deeply, like during exercise, you lose more water through your breath.

• The body’s response to cold constricts the blood vessels to preserve core temperature. This increases urine output, decreasing hydration.

• In cold weather, there is also a reduced sensation of thirst, which may cause you to drink less water throughout the day.

• Paradoxically, in cold weather you might sweat under heavy layers but not notice it because you’re bundled up, adding up to more fluid loss.

For someone in rehabilitation, you’re already in a state of heightened repair demand, and if you’re losing fluid without adequate replacement, you risk slower recovery, greater fatigue, and diminished performance (therapeutic or otherwise).

How you can adapt: The best thing you can do is to be aware of the signs of dehydration so you can react to all kinds of temperatures and fluid loss variables. One of the most reliable ways to do that is urine color. When you are well-hydrated, it should be a light yellow. As you get more and more dehydrated it will go from dark yellow to a brown-ish color, signalling intense dehydration.

Beyond that, make sure you hydrate before any exercise and bring water with you wherever you go!

5. Immunity During the Winter

Keeping your immune system healthy is an important part of your recovery, and in the winter, the immune system faces heightened demands. Cold exposure itself has been shown to suppress certain immune functions, specifically when it comes to your “defense” cells, lymphocytes and natural killer cells. The activity of these cells, which includes finding and destroying pathogens, is suppressed by long-term or unprotected cold exposure.

One of our first defenses against pathogens is the respiratory tract, and cold, dry air affects the body’s natural barriers. When the humidity falls, the nose and throat lose moisture more quickly, making it harder for the mucous membranes to trap and clear germs. Combined with closer quarters when the public largely elects to stay indoors, it creates an environment where pathogens can more easily enter the body.

Lastly, lower sunlight exposure reduces vitamin D synthesis, which has downstream effects on immune regulation. For someone recovering from surgery, injury, or illness, it’s a season of heightened need for immune support and protective behaviour.

How you can adapt: Stay warm and dry, keep hydrated, and make sure you are receiving adequate nutrition, sleep, and are managing your stress well. If you find that your nose and mouth are particularly dry, invest in a humidifier and make sure you drink plenty of water.

6. Fueling for Healing

Nutrition is one of the most important, yet overlooked, determinants of healing. If the body doesn’t have what it needs to recover, the process will likely slow down. Tissues rebuild using the nutrients you consume, immune cells rely on vitamins and minerals to function properly, and your energy levels depend on steady, balanced fuel. But winter can make healthy eating more challenging. Produce becomes more expensive, certain fruits and vegetables go out of season, and colder weather makes it harder to get out for regular grocery trips, especially if mobility is limited.

How you can adapt: When you’re at the grocery store, look for:

• Frozen fruits and vegetables: Frozen produce is picked and flash-frozen at peak ripeness, which preserves vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It’s a convenient option for patients recovering at home, and it often costs less than fresh items.

• Root vegetables and winter greens: Carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, cabbage, kale, and squash store well and stay nutrient-rich all winter. They provide fiber to support gut health, vitamin C for immune function, and complex carbohydrates for steady energy.

• Shelf-stable protein sources: Healing requires adequate protein intake. Options like canned salmon or tuna, beans, lentils, eggs, nut butters, and Greek yogurt offer convenient, affordable ways to meet daily protein needs without relying on fresh meat.

• Healthy fats for inflammation support: Foods like olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds provide omega-3s and monounsaturated fats, which help regulate inflammation and support tissue repair.

• Fortified foods for vitamin D and calcium: With less sunlight in winter, fortified milk, plant milks, yogurts, or cereals can help maintain vitamin D levels, which support bone health and immune function.

Conclusion

Though winter presents different challenges than warmer months, knowing how it can impact your body will help you work with the season rather than against it by keeping your muscles warm, your mood steady, your immune system supported, and your body well-nourished even when fresh produce is harder to find.

Let’s not forget: movement remains one of the strongest tools you have. Even on the coldest days, small, consistent indoor activity can maintain strength, preserve mobility, and support long-term healing. Patients who stay active, eat well, and remain engaged in their therapy plan throughout the winter are more likely to maintain progress, and even continue improving, well into spring.

Reunion’s care teams understand the demands of winter recovery. We’re here to help you adapt your routine, make safe choices, and stay motivated, no matter the weather outside.