Exercising in winter – what to do when you just don’t want to leave the house

I don’t know about you guys, but lately the temperature in Sydney has taken a nose-dive, and it’s damn cold. Of course ‘cold’ is relative – 8 degrees celsius in the Australian winter is A LOT more bearable than say -20 in Norway (believe me, there’s NOTHING like that for ensuring you walk quickly EVERYWHERE) but still the chill factor makes it just that bit harder to get out of your cosy, centrally heated home or office and work up a sweat.

 

Standard winter behaviour …

Happily, I follow a lot of bloggers who have posted some great articles and info on what types of exercise to do in winter. Personally, I’m not a fan of running … well … EVER, really. Year-round I prefer to workout at the gym, but also throw in the odd walk or yoga/pilates class. But in winter I may not even make it the 10 minutes walk down the road to the gym if it’s pouring with rain outside, so this is where the trusty DVD (or YouTube) comes in handy.

First of all I will say – it’s not gonna be like this:

Dogs. With muscles. And leotards. What could be better?!

And if I’m being honest, I don’t get as good a workout as I would if I’d gone to the gym. But it’s ALMOST as good. And something’s better than nothing, right?

So these are my recommendations:

• Anything by Michelle Bridges. Ok, I kind of have a small (read: massive) crush on Mish. But I can, without bias, truly tell you that her DVDs are ace. I own the Crunchtime DVD collection which is actually 3 DVDs which means it’s not only good value for money, but you also get to mix up the workouts. You need hand weights and a chair, and that’s it.
• I’m pretty keen to try out the FitnessBlender workouts on YouTube but haven’t done so yet. They have loads of videos, short or full-length targeting specific areas but also quite a lot of interval workouts (my favourite).
• Ever heard of the Insanity workout? If you haven’t, have you been hiding under a rock? It’s a 60 day workout program that comes complete with 10 workouts, a nutrition plan, a fitness guide and a calendar, and boasts that it’s “the most intense workout programme ever put on DVD”. I know several people who have done this program and they swear by it. Or should I say they have a love/hate relationship with it! Either way, it’s intense, so this is only something I’d look at doing if I was totally prepared for it.
• Yoga is something you can easily do at home by yourself, and if you’re not convinced yoga can be life-changing, take a look at this video. There are loads of websites and YouTube channels dedicated to yoga routines. Or you could try a 15 day free trail at YogaGlo.
• If you don’t fancy turning on the TV, you can try an indoor workout that you follow yourself. I’d recommend purchasing a stability ball, a pair of hand weights (if you’re a beginner start with 2kg dumbbells) and a skipping rope. And check out these 50 bodyweight exercises you can do anywhere. My friend Lau over at Fierce for Life can explain way better than I can why you everyone should be incorporating bodyweight exercises into their workouts.

So that’s it for now folks. I could go on and on about exercising indoors but this is a good start if you’re keen to keep fit but don’t want to brave the outdoors in the cold weather.

Extreme winter exercising. Hard-core.

Stay Fit & Well,

Lisa x