How to Stay Active During the Winter

With these cold wintery days rapidly approaching, most people are turning to their couches and recliners with warm blankets and the T.V. on to their favorite station. However, doing this can be quite unhealthy, and one way to stay healthy is to be active! Most people think that it's too difficult to stay active during the winter since they can't just go outside and do whatever they please, but that's wrong!

Exercise
You can always exercise to keep active. If you don't already own one, you can purchase an exercise bike, or a treadmill, or even an elliptical! You don't have to go buy the most expensive one you can find, just one that works will suffice. You don't have the money for that? Turn to good old fashioned workouts! Possibly get a cheap jump rope for some cardio. You can come up with your own little workouts to do as well.

This is the main thing I do when it's cold out. Start off with some pushups. There are many different ways to make it interesting. You can do some pyramids, for one. Start with ten pushups, then do nine, then do eight and so on and so forth until you get to one, then go on back up to ten! For a little pizzazz, I switch up the pushups. I do ten regular pushups, then nine wide arm pushups, then eight close hand pushups, then seven regular pushups, and so on and so forth. You can add in your own such as elevated feet, handstand, or even planche if you have the strength, whatever you want, this is your workout!

Once you get your pushups done, do some sit-ups. You don't need another person for this; you can put your feet under your bed, or even do them without any weight on your legs. If you can do them without weight, then you won't have a problem with weight. I actually opt for bicycle crunches or flutter kicks, just mix it up a little bit. If you own a pull-up bar like the Iron Gym or the p90x, use that to do some pull-ups. If you have the finger strength, you can even use the top of the doorways to do some finger tip pull-ups.

Why not head down to a Gym? They're indoors, so the cold won't affect that! Just head on down to your local Gym and start working out! If you don't know where to start, try to get a trainer and set-up a workout to do. The biggest and most important tip I can give on this is do not give up! Even if it's tough, it will get better and easier, you'll start feeling better, and you'll be glad you did it.

Pick up an instrument
Don't get excited and say, "I can stay active by playing the Harmonica!" You can do that while sitting on the couch during commercials! I'm talking about something that keeps you moving. Pick up a guitar and start rocking out around the room. My personal favorite is the drums! Yes, you sit there, but it keeps you moving. Get a double bass and keep both your legs moving, or even clap the hi-hat while hitting a single bass.

If you haven't played the drums before, or think you're too uncoordinated to do so, you can pick up a cheap five-piece set to just keep active up to a $7,000 kit to completely rock out! But again, don't play it once and realize you can play like Jimi Hendrix or Joey Jordison because you won't. You'll need to practice a lot to become that good. Start off by learning the basics and simple practice scales or rudiments to play, and then move on to learning some songs that you listen to, and then maybe even composing your own material.

Go outside and throw a snowball!
You don't have to stay inside during the winter! You can bundle up and go enjoy the snow! Get a group of your friends together and throw some snowballs! Think you're too old to throw snowballs? Try throwing one at your friend, and watch them throw one back and have fun like you're still a little kid! You don't even have to throw snowballs; you can do other outdoors activities.

Find a hill and go sledding, snowboarding, or skiing! Those are three things that no one's too old to do! Especially those parents out there reading this right now, you can beat sledding down a hill with your child! If you want to make a day out of it, go as a whole family and enjoy the slopes while feeling great!

Sports
You can still play some sports! You can play football in the snow, that's always fun! If you don't feel like getting cold, go somewhere that has indoor spots like racquet ball or tennis! There are even places with indoor tracks so you can race with friends. You'd be surprised how much fun you can have playing a sport indoors.

The bottom-line is that winter isn't an excuse to be lazy for a few months. There are plenty of ways to get out there and enjoy the day, either by yourself, with friends, or as a family! Don't let the winter months be the downfall of your health, make it enjoyable and have fun!