My garage low this winter was -20F/-29C. Usually I start bringing my bells inside when the temps get below 50F/10C. This is primarily due to comfort. However, I have found using bells that have been left outside below 32F/0C starts to hurt my hands - not in the torn-up kind of way showcased on another thread here, but in the "bro you're holding onto a super cold block of ice" kind of way. Metal left overnight at 0F/-18C is painfully cold. Maybe I'm just being a baby, but if I am I'm a big one! Wait...
Other Ways I deal with temperature:
1. Stick hands in pockets between sets. Around or below 0F/-18C, my hands start getting quite cold quite quickly, and below -10F/-23C, it can get almost painful, even if just out "naked" for a set.
- If between sets is long enough, I'll put on gloves. If not, I'll stick my hands in my pockets. Above 0F/-18C, this quickly becomes an issue of "how warm can I get my hands without getting sweaty." Don't get sweaty.
- I don't wear gloves when I'm handling bells at all. I don't feel confident doing swings and snatches wearing gloves, but perhaps if I was just doing a single clean to set up a set of front squats or presses I could manage. I think I did do some getups wearing wool mittens and they weren't bad.
2. Wear clothing designed for activity at cold temperatures. Layer. Remove layers as you warm up and minimize sweating. Wool socks are my friends.
- In temps above 20F/-7C I usually just wear a pair of lightweight joggers or my winter running tights and a longsleeve synthetic shirt, but I'll start out with a thicker fleece on top until I warm up.
- In temps below that, I will frequently wear long johns (I think mine are some synthetic type, but commonly I see silk or wool), and then some light pants on bottom (or rarely thicker sweatpants). On top, I'll add a lightweight "grid" synthetic top, and on top of that I'll add a lightweight windbreaker and/or the aforementioned thicker fleece.
3. Shoes (and wool socks). While I prefer to train barefoot, after a certain point I start wearing wool socks. Below about 10F/-12C I start wearing boots as well. Numb feet I can't feel I don't trust. Maybe I'm just a baby about cold feet. The extra layer between my feet and the floor really helps minimize heat loss.
There is an awkward period (rather short) in the fall and spring when the condensation is extreme and I need towels to dry off the bells and floor from them "sweating." Haven't found a solution to that.
I have not gone the route of a space heater mostly due to cost and that my garage is not insulated. There were a couple times this year I did not train in the garage due to the cold - naked hands said no, my mind was weak. Below 0F/-18C is as much a mental challenge to me as it is a physical one. Above that, as long as the bells were inside, it isn't all that bad.
I have found this winter that doing a more dedicated 10-15 minute warmup to really warm up my knees, hips, back, and shoulders made a huge difference in how I felt the rest of the session. It seems that warmups are a bit pooh-poohed here, but they are worth it to me on cold mornings.
I have to say -
@offwidth is much more experienced that I am in cold weather and quite often I've run something by him just to make sure I'm not going to do something stupid, and watching
@Alexander Halford snatch barefoot in the snow challenges my sense of cold. I need to embrace my inner Wim Hof more.