With winter months come cold nights snuggled under cozy blankets followed by morning struggles to step out of bed while chilling air sneaks through your window seals. It’s difficult to start or finish any work day under such harsh conditions, let alone starting or finishing it with a workout. The freezing temperatures might leave you feeling discourage or uninterested in sticking to your workout regimen but you only have two options. Either you curl up and hibernate until the snow melts or you find a way to continue on with your workouts by adapting to the changes in the weather.
Fight the urge to plop on the couch and ditch your workout with these five helpful tips on mastering your winter workout.
- Warm-up in the Shower: I know it might sounds silly to take a shower before you work out but this may be the thing that wakes you up and puts you in a mind set to take action. Since it takes longer to warm your body during the winter months, taking a hot shower before you start might give you a jump start on your pre-workout warm-up as well.
- Dress in Layers & Avoid Cotton: Your natural instinct might be to dress as warm as possible to make working out in the cold a bit more bearable, but its better dress in layers and give your body temperature a bit of room to increase. You also want to avoid cotton, if at all possible, since it doesn’t absorb moisture.
- Reduce your Workout Time & Increase Intensity: High intensity workouts are great for burning more calories in a shorter amount of time and are perfect when you are anxious to get inside. You can boost your workout intensity by implementing sprints, intervals, heavier weights, or anything that causes your heart rate to increase higher than it normally would.
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Sign-up for a Group Race or Group Fitness Class: The freezing temperatures might not motivate you to workout, but a commitment to others or wasting your money might. You are more likely to attend the Saturday morning group runs for an upcoming half marathon after paying the fee to run. Or perhaps you signed up to run for charity; your commitment to that charity might push you to get out of bed.
- Workout Indoors: Who says that you have to step a foot outdoors? There are a number of home workouts that you can do in your living room. You can start by trying DVDs, internet workout videos, or workout shows. You can burn just as many calories indoors, in the comforts of your own home, as you would at a gym or outside.
