Try Circuit Training, When It's Too Cold to Run

As the winter months approach cold weather will send many outdoor fitness activities into hibernation. Many use the bad weather as an excuse to stop working out completely from December to March and put on extra body fat. This leads to the summer rush to get that "beach body" and "washboard abs" before June. Stop the cycle by keeping up your regimen indoors with cardio circuit training.

Set up a small circuit in a free space in your home like your living room or basement. A jump rope, dumbbells, fitness ball or medicine ball are all pieces of equipment that you can use in your circuit, however, you do not need any equipment to be successful.

Once you have your space and equipment pick 4-6 exercises that you can complete in a circuit 2-3 times. Aim to hit a variety of muscles including the shoulders, back, chest, arms, legs and abdominals. An example circuit could consist of push ups, jumping jacks, crunches, dumbbell rows and dumbbell shoulder press and would be set up like this.

Push ups x 10
Jumping jacks x 20
Crunches x 15
Dumbbell rows x 15
Dumbbell should press x 10

Complete the circuit moving quickly from one exercise to the next. Take 1 minute of rest before completing the circuit again and aim to do this 3 times. You should be able to complete the example circuit 3 times with 1 minute rest in 10 minutes. As you increase your level of fitness you can add more exercises, more weight, more repetitions and less rest time.

Circuits can be as simple or complex as you like them. A stay at home mom may only have time to fit in the example above. It could be completed while watching TV or waiting for eggs to boil. A boxer, on the other hand, would have a much more involved circuit with more intensity, exercises and repetitions.

If you are already at a high level of fitness you may want to try a more difficult circuit. A harder circuit could include jumping rope, lunges, push ups, up downs, dumbbell shoulder press, sit ups, and dumbbell curls and be set up like this.

Jump rope for 3 minutes
Lunges holding dumbbells x 15
Push ups x 20
Up downs x 15
Dumbbell shoulder press x 15
Sit ups x 25
Dumbbell curls x 15

This more difficult circuit could be repeated 3-5 times with 30 seconds rest instead of a full minute. Start where you feel comfortable and work to increase the load each week. You could do this by adding harder exercises, doing more repetitions, using heavier dumbbells, or taking less rest.

Incorporating circuit training into your workouts is an excellent way to stay fit through the winter months while the rest of the world slacks off. When spring comes and everyone else is rushing to get in summer shape you'll already be fit to put on that new swimsuit and hit the beach.