Live in a City? Find Your Fitness Inside
After working hard to get fit, you want to maintain your momentum all winter. Your good intentions can fizzle quickly, though, as cold temperatures and snowy surfaces prevent you from exercising outdoors. Instead of hibernating, which compromises the fitness goals you have worked so hard to achieve, consider these unique ways you can stay fit indoors this winter.
Best Ways to Get Fit Indoors
Find a Pool
According to Dr. G. John Mullen, swimming makes you smarter, slows down the aging process, and burns more calories than jogging. Plus, it builds endurance, tones your muscles, and strengthens your body and mind. Find a local indoor pool at the YMCA, retirement center, hotel, or rec center and swim laps or join an aquatic exercise club. With your swimsuit and goggles, you can stay fit all winter.
Transform Your Screen Time
During the winter, you may catch up on your favorite TV shows, play online games for hours, read interesting blogs, or learn how to make your own videos as you relax and stay entertained. Instead of sitting down to enjoy these activities, transform your screen time into active time.
Stretch or do planks, lunges, and squats during commercial breaks or for five minutes every half hour.
Your body and brain will thank you for getting off the couch and exercising as you enjoy your screen time.
Take a Stand at Work
Sitting all day promotes obesity, slows metabolism, and can cause heart disease, reports the Mayo Clinic. Take a stand at work with a standing or walking desk that prompts you to get off the chair and move more.
If standing for work isn’t an option, walk in place as you talk on the phone and take breaks every 30 minutes to stretch, walk around the office, or jump rope. When you take a stand, you stay moving and gain important health benefits.
Try a New Activity
Winter gives you the perfect opportunity to try an indoor class like karate, Zumba, or yoga. Find classes at your local rec center, YMCA, senior center, or gym, or workout to online fitness videos at home. With these new activities, you work out every day and have fun.
Volunteer Helping Others
Numerous volunteer opportunities keep you moving and help you connect to others as you make a difference in your community. Evaluate your interests and consider joining a community theater group, playing with cats and dogs at an animal shelter, or cooking meals for older neighbors. When you volunteer, you stay fit and help others.
Babysit Kids
Young kids never stop moving, and they encourage you to stay active, too. Commit to babysit for friends and family, or provide child care at a preschool, daycare center, or community mom’s group.
You can dance, exercise, and play ball indoors together while staying active, having fun, and influencing the next generation.
Jump on a Trampoline
Jumping on a trampoline improves your balance, metabolism, and circulation. Purchase a mini trampoline and use it every day.
You can simply bounce, sprint, step off, or do a variety of stretches as you tone your body and jump. Visit Leap and Bounders website for more information.
Clean Your House
Washing windows, scrubbing the shower, and vacuuming the carpets all help you burn calories and stay fit. You can also do lunges as you fold laundry, squat while washing dishes, and do pushups between chores.
Your home will sparkle, and your body will stay fit as you multitask.
Climb the Stairs
You may already know that taking the stairs instead of the elevator improves your cardiovascular health. Go a step further this winter and add a stair workout to your daily routine as you improve your flexibility, power, and lower body strength. Wear a weighted vest or carry weight to run up the stairs, skip alternate steps as you climb, or hop up the steps.
Go Rock Climbing
You don’t have to be an avid outdoor rock climber to enjoy rock climbing during the cold winter months. Find an indoor rock climbing course and discover a sport that builds muscle, relieves stress, and improves flexibility, stamina, and concentration. It’s ideal for both beginners and experienced climbers and gives you hours of fun and focused activity.
Discover Wii Fit
Nintendo’s Wii Fit provides dozens of convenient virtual workouts that keep you moving all winter. Try yoga, aerobics, boxing, surfing, or strength training alone or with your family. You can adjust the workouts based on your fitness level and goals as you boost muscle mass, flexibility, and cardiovascular health, and play.
Make Fitness Videos
Help others and stay fit when you make fitness videos. You can target teens, college students, parents, or seniors and demonstrate the proper way to stretch, build core strength, or prevent strains. Recording the videos increases your motivation to stay active and helps others stay fit all winter.
Wrap-Up
Stay fit this winter in several unique ways. Each of these activities keeps you moving indoors and ensures you stay in great shape all season.