Just when you thought you had figured out the perfect work-out routine…the cold weather comes along and ruins all your will to get outside (or even muster up enough motivation to get in the car to go to the gym). About this time every year, you predictably trade in your afternoon walks for large glasses of egg nog and hot chocolate. Sure, that doesn’t SOUND too bad, but that winter lethargy can really throw a wrench into your weight-loss goals.
So, make winter the season to shake things up. Tired of the old gym routine? Try a new indoor activity to get your blood pumping, as well as keeping your interest piqued. Check out our top five winter workouts that are guaranteed to keep you in shape during the hectic holiday season.
1) Join a class. If you already belong to a gym, there is no better time than the winter to start taking advantage of those exercise classes and try something new. From yoga to spinning, there’s a class to fit almost everyone’s work-out personality. Group classes are excellent ways to foster healthy habits--after all, if everyone around you is exercising and eating healthy foods, you probably will find yourself motivated to do the same.
2) Take a swim. Indoor pools are marvelous! Swimming is a wonderful physical activity that’s easy on the joints and can help improve cardiovascular strength (and the heated water feels pretty good too). For all you exercise-junkies out there, just because water work-outs are low-impact doesn’t mean that they’re not intense. For a heart-pumping work-out, try alternating swimming and jogging in the pool with leg lifts or squats. The water resistance is a great way to combine strength training with cardiovascular exercise.
3) Spice up the machines. Does the idea of spending 30 consecutive minutes on a treadmill sound less than appealing? Yes, exercise machines don’t have to be boring if you mix up your workout. Try doing a circuit of a cardio machine, then alternate with crunches and squats to keep your heart rate up.
4) Make every little step count. Even if you’re not a member of a gym or fitness club, you can even stay active without leaving the comfort of your home! Make an extra trip or two up your stairs and dance to some music while you’re vacuuming or cooking dinner. You can even make watching television into an exercise if you do crunches or lift small weights during the commercials.
5) Check out your library. Most public libraries have lots of exercise videos that you can check-out for free. You may feel silly working-out to that Richard Simmons tape, but as long as keeps you moving and having fun, you’ll be good to go.
So, make winter the season to shake things up. Tired of the old gym routine? Try a new indoor activity to get your blood pumping, as well as keeping your interest piqued. Check out our top five winter workouts that are guaranteed to keep you in shape during the hectic holiday season.
1) Join a class. If you already belong to a gym, there is no better time than the winter to start taking advantage of those exercise classes and try something new. From yoga to spinning, there’s a class to fit almost everyone’s work-out personality. Group classes are excellent ways to foster healthy habits--after all, if everyone around you is exercising and eating healthy foods, you probably will find yourself motivated to do the same.
2) Take a swim. Indoor pools are marvelous! Swimming is a wonderful physical activity that’s easy on the joints and can help improve cardiovascular strength (and the heated water feels pretty good too). For all you exercise-junkies out there, just because water work-outs are low-impact doesn’t mean that they’re not intense. For a heart-pumping work-out, try alternating swimming and jogging in the pool with leg lifts or squats. The water resistance is a great way to combine strength training with cardiovascular exercise.
3) Spice up the machines. Does the idea of spending 30 consecutive minutes on a treadmill sound less than appealing? Yes, exercise machines don’t have to be boring if you mix up your workout. Try doing a circuit of a cardio machine, then alternate with crunches and squats to keep your heart rate up.
4) Make every little step count. Even if you’re not a member of a gym or fitness club, you can even stay active without leaving the comfort of your home! Make an extra trip or two up your stairs and dance to some music while you’re vacuuming or cooking dinner. You can even make watching television into an exercise if you do crunches or lift small weights during the commercials.
5) Check out your library. Most public libraries have lots of exercise videos that you can check-out for free. You may feel silly working-out to that Richard Simmons tape, but as long as keeps you moving and having fun, you’ll be good to go.
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3 comments:
Your number 4 is my lifesaver, it's so cold here that I can't bear the idea of heading to the Y for a swim, yeah the pool is heated, the changing rooms are good and warm but then i have to step outside into sub zero temps and I shiver so hard I hurt!!! I do step up my activity at home as much as I can, I try to stay faithful to my treadmill and I do things like leg lifts and stretches throughout the day. Not to just help with weight control do I do these things but to help keep me limber so that I'm not playing catch up when spring arrives.
I've got a problem with trying to exercise, I'm seriously limited physically in what I'm able to do, my bones are in lousy shape from early onset of osteoporosis and that has already caused me several fractures which in turn became infected resulting in osteomylitis (very very long story), I was so young when this was going on that an entire team of physicians didn't think to consider osteoporosis as a root cause ya know and it was an endocrinologist who literally stumbled onto what was going on because of going to a conference where a case similar to mine was being presented. Although the other person was at least 10 years older than I, he came home insisting I be tested. ANYWAY, the damage has left me with limited movement and ability to do certain things. I am not allowed to lift weights for instance-my limit is presently 10lbs max to lift. None of this is condusive to leading an active physical llifestyle therefore I need some ideas on just what I can do that might fit into my "permissions" if you get my drift?? Right now I can't go walking since the snow is up to my thighs and I do not navigate on ice AT ALL, the risk is too high. I'm hoping that maybe someone can put up some ideas on low impact exercises or an article on exercising with disabilities. I know I'd appreciate it and I'd bet I'm not alone either.
I think I have a problem---I despise exercise of any type, I can tolerate taking walks to some extent otherwise I'm perfectly satisfied to be a slug. I hate being cold so taking walks is NOT going to happen during winter, no how no way and while I'm not purposely being obtuse or negative I just know myself and there's no use in my pretending I'm gonna jump in and do all these workouts. SOOOOO having said all this, can I still expect to lose weight at a reasonable rate if I just slug along being my normal self?? Heck I figure that even if I DID push myself to do some type formal exercise, once I stopped it would mess me up and I'd gain wt back faster than ever....not an appealing thought!!
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