Tips for Staying Active in the Winter

Finding the motivation to exercise during the winter months is not always easy, but that doesn't mean your fitness plans have to get stowed away with your bathing suits and patio furniture. Take a different approach to staying active this winter by finding new ways to get in shape.

Find New Outdoor Activities

Ice skating, skiing, hiking, and snowshoeing are just some of the different winter activities that burn calories and increase cardiovascular fitness. And if you're snowed in, don't sweat. Actually, do sweat: put down the snowblower and start shoveling to burn almost 500 calories per hour while working virtually every muscle in your body.

Use the Stairs

I always find an excuse to take the stairs for a quick workout, but it doesn't have to end there. If you are stuck inside on a blustery winter day, get a full body workout on your stairs by doing some step aerobics, climbing intervals, incline pushups, calf raises, and stair lunges.

Create Your Own Gym

For me, just getting to the gym is half the battle during the winter. Luckily you don't need a bunch of fancy equipment to stay in shape right in the comfort of your own home. A couple of dumbbells, some resistance bands, a floor mat, and a doorway pull-up bar are enough to provide a variety of challenging workouts, all for about the cost of a two month gym membership.

Check Your Cable Library

Speaking of exercising indoors, most cable and satellite companies offer a wide selection of on-demand workout videos. Strength training, cardio, yoga, and Pilates are just some of the guided exercise routines available right in your own home. Best of all, most of the workouts require nothing more than some floor space and maybe a couple of dumbbells, and vary in time from a few minutes to an hour.

Yoga

If you don't think yoga is a tough enough workout, I urge you to try it. With so many different poses and postures to explore, people of any fitness level can improve their strength, endurance, and balance through yoga training. More and more studios are offering Bikram yoga, which is performed in a 105 degree room (perfect on a cold winter night) and challenges every muscle while flushing toxins from your body.

Find Little Ways to Stay Active

Did you know that you burn an extra 50 or so calories for every hour spent standing instead of sitting? That may not sound like much, but can add up to thousands of calories (and a couple of pounds) shed after just a few months. Even better, jog in place while watching your favorite show, or take an hour to give the house a vigorous cleaning.

Revamp Your Workout

Beach season is over, so ditch the endless crunches this winter. Focus your strength training more on compound movements, which utilize major muscle groups and increase functional strength. Many compound lifts like squats and dead-lifts actually work your midsection just as well as traditional ab exercises, since they force your core muscles to contract and stabilize.