Don’t hibernate when cold weather hits! Get outside and get moving, or find creative ways to get your heart rate up indoors. Here are a few suggestions from the American Heart Association on how to get motivated when the temperatures drop:
Go snowshoeing.
Walking in snowshoes burns at least 45 percent more calories than hiking in hiking boots.
Wax those skis and get outside! Downhill and cross-country skiing are both excellent calorie-burning activities. Cross-country skiing is a great family activity, it’s a wonderful way to enjoy the calming effects of Mother Nature, and it’s a relatively safe sport. Downhill skiing provides an exhilarating adrenaline rush and burns approximately 420 calories an hour.
Try snowboarding. Snowboarding tones your body and provides a great cardiovascular workout. If you’re just learning, take a class with an instructor. Just remember to pay attention when learning how to stop.
Swim laps or take a water aerobics class at a community pool. Swimming leads to improved cardiovascular conditioning, flexibility, posture, increased muscle strength, and endurance.
Walk at the mall. The hardest part is getting there. Once you’re there, you’ll be surprised how fast you finish your workout. Some malls even have walking groups.
Join a gym/health club. Keep it interesting by mixing it up with free weights, cardio workouts, and classes such as kickboxing, yoga, spinning, Pilates, and hip-hop.
Study martial arts. All of that punching, kicking, and yelling can be an invigorating workout.
Work out at home. Buy a set of dumbbells, an exercise ball, and a jump rope and you’re ready. For extra motivation, get a set of exercise DVDs. This way, you won’t have an excuse not to work out when the weather outside is frightful!