Why Winter Makes Your Muscles and Joints Ache—and What to Do About It

As the temperature drops, it can experience increasingly challenging to operate out. The inside of your house is warm and cozy, but going outside brings unwelcome discomfort like frigid fingers and toes. This is often paired with muscle soreness and joint stiffness that many notice in the colder months. While research on the direct link between outdoor temperature and muscle soreness and joint stiffness has been inconsistent, many people still experience these issues. Here’s what experts suggest.

Why Your Joints and Muscles Feel Sore in Cold Weather

We tend to brace against the cold, rolling our shoulders forward and up when walking into the wind, tightening our fists when our fingers get cold, and clenching our muscles for extended periods. These subconscious adjustments can lead to soreness. But there are a few other reasons why your body feels more achy when outdoor temperatures drop.

Shivering Leads to Aches and Pains

“When it’s cold outside, our body uses thermoregulation to conserve heat in the most important areas, the vital organs,” explains Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City . To maintain your central body temperature, blood is directed to your core, and blood vessels narrow in a process called vasoconstriction to conserve heat. Shivering, the body’s way of trying to generate warmth, causes muscles to tense up, which can lead to pain.

Muscles and Joints Stiffen

“Muscles perform best when warm,” says Chris Travis, a certified personal trainer and functional strength coach . “In colder conditions, they contract and relax less efficiently. Key physical aspects like speed, explosive moments, and reaction time can feel slower until the muscles are warmed up.”

While cold weather doesn’t directly impact joints, it can lead to thickening of the synovial fluid, which lubricates joints and acts as a shock absorber. This thickening can cause feelings of stiffness , , .

We Move Less When It’s Cold

It’s tougher to get moving when it’s chillier. Winter’s low temperatures, fewer daylight hours, and stormy weather may keep people indoors and less active. A 2021 study found that sedentary behavior, particularly prolonged sitting, can lead to back stiffness .

“This is honestly one of the most overlooked factors and often the biggest driver,” says Travis . “When movement decreases, muscles adapt to shorter positions, and joints receive less regular loading and lubrication.”

How Joint and Muscle Pain Affects Performance

A drop in temperature has been shown to limit muscles’ ability to produce force and power, and may limit dexterity . Muscles function best when they’re between 80 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. If muscle temperature drops below that range, endurance and force may be reduced. Endurance can also be affected when temperatures exceed that window.

In 2021, the American College of Sports Medicine released a statement on injury prevention and exercise performance during cold-weather exercise, noting that a decrease in muscle temperature leads to “lower V̇O2 max, exercise time, and power/sprint ability” .

How to Alleviate Joint and Muscle Pain

When you return to movement, you’re likely to experience more intense muscle soreness, so ramp up slowly, Travis says.

1. Movement Is the Best Way to Ward Off Pain

Regular physical activity is your most powerful defense against winter aches. “It’s important to keep the muscles and joints moving all year long, but particularly in the winter when there is less movement outside of sport participation,” says Metzl .

2. Warm Up Ahead of Exercise

Warming up before working out is important year-round, but particularly in cold weather. Try five to ten minutes of pre-workout movement, building from larger, controlled movements to higher-intensity ones, says Travis . Getting off the couch long enough to do a few dynamic mobility movements to take your joints through their full range of motion is a good start.

3. Mindset Matters

“The truth is that it’s as much about mindset as physiology,” says Metzl . “You have to push yourself to get out there and move. It can be quite awesome and fun. I recommend finding a sport or activity that you like, getting proper gear, and making yourself move!”

4. Invest in Cold-Weather Gear

If you’re working out outside, layer up. Your extremities (toes and fingers) tend to feel the effects of a drop in temperature more quickly, so consider investing in a good pair of gloves and warm socks .

Exercising in the winter months doesn’t have to be a consistently loathsome experience. With some planning and a bit of a mental nudge, you can find ways to keep moving until the sunshine and your motivation return.

“The goal isn’t to push through winter,” says Travis . “It’s to train smarter within it.”