Vaulting in the COLD?

[chaus]

get some nice gripped gloves. Biking gloves, rock climbing gloves, soccer goalie gloves etc. I have a nice pair that just has a little bit of gripping on the inside, keep my hands warm, and no, (maybe a little) slippage.

Just wear layers, and keep your top layer as a windbreaker type material. 50degrees is wonderful! it was about 10 today when I was running around outside, but I was warm, I had a hat, gloves, two pairs of spandex, and just a tshirt, long sleve, and a wind breaker. Of course we don't vault outside at all during the winter, and we did have to go in for the rest of the work out.

[decanuck]

Become Canadian. That way 50 degrees will feel tropical.

But seriously, as already suggested wear long, tight-fitting clothing. I have 6 pairs of long tights. On the super cold days, I wear two or even three of them along with extra socks, gloves (when you're not jumping), and a toque of course. I also suggest a scarf or neck tube as you can lost a lot of heat through that area. I also like long-sleeve hooded zip-up jackets for in between jumps since they're warm and easy to get into and out of.

The key is to layer--successive layers of clothing adds not only the insulation of the clothing itself, but in doing so air is trapped between each layer which then has its own insulative value (same principle as double- and triple-paned glass).

See picture for an example of what to wear ---------------------->>>

[powerplant42]

Hey nice take-off!

You don't get too constricted with all those layers? I imagine it's a lot tougher to move...

[chaus]

I feel a little constricted with the massive amounts of layers, but really its not that bad. The spandex pants allow for an excellent range of motion in the legs, and as long as your top layer isn't too bulky you should be fine. Like a big sweat shirt is probably not the best choice.

[decanuck]

Why thank you. And yeah, it's kind of a pick-your-poison type choice: minimal constriction due to copious amounts of clothing versus maximal constriction due to freezing your nips off. It all depends on how uncomfortable you are versus how cold you would otherwise be.

For the legs I'm not too bothered so I just wear multiple pairs of tights, but for the upper body it's not as easy. Form-fitting tops restrict your shoulder movement a little but loose-fitting tops flap around and knock the bar off which is even more irritating. On the super cold days I usually go with form-fitting long sleeve underneath loose-fitting but small t-shirt underneath a singlet. Sometimes I throw a beater in there too under the t-shirt. Never discount the value of adding a layer--like I said it's not just the shirt itself it's the air it traps that keeps you warm.