As the weather gets colder, you may find yourself being tempted to want to get home from work and curl up on the couch. Or if you’re a morning exerciser, snooze that alarm few more times and not get out of bed because it’s too cold… So how do you stay motivated during the coldest time of year?
A change of season doesn’t pave the way for excuses!
Winter is no excuse for missing your training – in fact, we should be going just as hard to achieve our health and fitness goals. Our bodies still need to move no matter what time of year! Some of the excuses personal trainers hear as to why people haven’t been exercising during winter are terrible.
The worst one is that, ‘it’s cold’ – this is especially hard to fathom when the person has a gym membership and only has to get a few metres from the car into the gym before they will be warm again…
Working out – the best way to warm up
Exercising is the best, most natural way of warming the body. After a good hard workout, your body stays a lot warmer than if you were just sitting around. And you get the benefit of that endorphin ‘feel good’ hit to help cure any winter blues!
Even if you don’t go to a gym, most fine days are wonderful for wrapping up and getting out in the crisp air. If it’s raining, why not power walk around your local mall? (Just don’t take your credit card if you think you’ll be tempted to spend unnecessarily!)
You can also do hundreds of different exercises inside – even in the space of a small bedroom! It’s just a case of getting creative.
It won’t be wintertime forever…
The extra bonus is that when summer rolls round again, you won’t have to ‘get all the winter flab off. You’ll be maintaining and enjoying the benefits of looking and feeling great!
If you’re feeling a bit stale in your exercise, plan to do something new – get a new program, take up a new class, try something different. Every magazine seems to suggest it, but we often forget to actually do this. If you’re bored with your workouts you’re more likely to miss more exercise sessions.
Enjoy your exercise – if you don’t, it’s only you who can change that. This winter, choose to take control of your lifestyle and don’t let the cold weather stop you looking and feeling your best!
Image / Flickr – Vjeran Lisjak