Walking through the winter woods at night can become a habit difficult to kick—especially if you’re wearing snowshoes.

“When I go snowshoeing, it’s a whole new story,” said Cheryl Peluso of the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. “There’s no wind at all. It’s very hushed and silent in the woods, and you don’t need a flashlight because the snow reflects so much light.”

Add the promise of Crock Pot hot cocoa and it’s Wednesday night nirvana at Chestnut Ridge Park, where two snowshoeing groups set out weekly, stretching the season (and their muscles) well into March.

“You’d be surprised how long you can snowshoe,” said Peluso, 53, of Hamburg. “I maintain a section of trail in Allegany State Park, and I snowshoed there last year in the first week of April.”

Snow opens the door to recreation and exercise. Think of snow as a form of resistance, ice as a test of balance and hill navigation as a lesson in core strength. With the Winter Olympics winding down and some big festivals gearing up this weekend, why not flex some polar muscle while you still can?

“When anyone exercises in the cold, there’s additional calories burned because the body works harder to maintain its temperature,” said James Velasquez, assistant professor in the Exercise and Sports Studies program at D’Youville College. “A lot of people who are intimidated by going to a gym really can get a workout from snowshoeing, a low-impact exercise a lot of people can do regardless of their level of fitness.”

Don’t stop at snowshoeing. Feel the burn while hiking, sledding, tubing or ice skating. Skiing and boarding, too, expend thermal calories. And don’t forget shoveling. There’s a reason your neighbor smiles as he surveys his clear driveway. It’s the 380 calories he burned after an hour of hurling snow.

Stamp out winter

In 2007, more than 10 million Americans went snowshoeing, according to

www.snowshoemag.com

. Of that number, 40.8 percent are estimated to be women, 9.4 percent are children ages 7 to 11, with 44.2 percent of all snowshoers between the ages of 25 and 44.

At Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Depew, where aluminum- frame snowshoes cost $2 to rent, three miles of trails are open to hiking, walking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Children’s snowshoes — the smallest size is appropriate for those weighing under 50 pounds — are lightweight and plastic.

“You can pretty much walk at a normal gait, and some people use poles,” said Kristen Rosenburg, Reinstein program coordinator. “Today’s snowshoes are not as long or as wide as older wooden-frame models.”

By spreading your weight evenly across a large, flat surface area, snowshoes keep you on top of the snow without sinking or struggling. A general rule? The lighter the snow and the heavier the person, the larger the snowshoe needs to be. Snowshoes are generally inexpensive, ranging from $100 to around $300.

Once strapped in a pair of snowshoes, you’ll see things differently and, if you’re lucky, spot a white-breasted nuthatch, the only bird that can walk headfirst down a tree, according to Rosenburg. Other winter-feeders at Reinstein include chickadees, cardinals (males are red; females are more brown), three species of woodpeckers, mourning doves and goldfinches.

Reinstein is also home to the largest American beech tree in New York State, Rosenburg noted. Located on the self-guided Beech Tree Trail, its trunk is 135 inches in circumference. It stands more than 126 feet tall with a crown spread of 73 feet.

At Tifft Nature Preserve in South Buffalo, there are five miles of trails, according to Experience Manager Lauren Makeyenko, who has observed an increase in snowshoe rentals.

Other snowshoe trails locally include: Walton Woods in Amherst, Emery Park in South Wales, Buckhorn Island State Park on Grand Island and Sprague Brook State Park in Glenwood.

Get fleece

Remember the last time you lifted your wet jeans from washer to dryer? Imagine wearing those jeans driving home after an afternoon of snow play.

“You don’t wear jeans snowshoeing,” advised Peluso. “Wear fleece pants and dress in layers. Remember your head is your thermostat. Take your hat off and partially unzip your jacket if you are feeling too warm.”

Avoid cotton. Embrace fleece, and stash some hot-hand packs in your pocket for good measure, added Peluso, who also skis.

“When I cross-country snow skied, it took a long time to get warm feet,” she recalled. “I don’t know if snowshoeing is the equivalent of walking with a weight on your feet, but if you add hot-hand packs you’ll never get cold feet. You will get snow on you, but with wool socks you won’t feel the wetness.”

From an exercise standpoint, said Velasquez, make sure you warm up and stretch no matter what your activity. The reason has to do with the cold temperatures.

“When you’re outside, your muscles lose elasticity like cold rubber bands,” said the exercise- science professor. “You’re putting your body in a position for injury. Warming up means performing a similar activity in a progressive way with the goal of increasing your heart rate and raising body temperature. By doing that, you’ll promote elasticity. Just like in any type of environmental extreme, people must acclimate and prepare for a change in temperature.”

Exercising in cold temperatures doesn’t mean you sweat less, cautioned Velasquez, who noted the importance of hydration in personal safety and performance.

“People can sweat considerably in the cold,” he said. “It only takes 1 to 2 percent loss of body weight in fluid to have a negative effect on performance, meaning slower recovery, excessive soreness and decreased endurance.

So dress right, grab some water and head out. As Tifft’s Makeyenko says, “We’re in Buffalo. We should be celebrating this kind of stuff.”