Ways to Stay Active in the Winter

Winter is great time to stay inside, catch up on reading, and eat lots of comfort food. The short days and cold weather make it easy to sleep in and slack on workouts, but this shouldn’t be an excuse to bail on your exercise routine.

To stay on track with your fitness goals, here are a five tips to staying active in the winter:

Workout in the morning.

Hitting the gym (or your workout DVD collection) before the sun rises is a great way to kick start the day! It gives you an early boost of energy and an awesome sense of accomplishment. Bonus: breaking a sweat in the AM means you don’t have to workout later in the day when you’re more likely to be tired.

Find a group of friends.

Friends will push you to improve and encourage you to keep at it. Exercising with friends means other people are depending on you to show up, so you’re being held accountable. Plus, friends make everything more fun!

Try a winter sport.

Embrace the winter weather and the season-specific activities that come with it. Give snowboarding, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing a try. Most ski mountains have trained guides that will help you learn your new sport. Not near a mountain? That’s okay, shoveling snow is a great workout!

Join a gym.

This one may seem obvious, but if cold weather isn’t your jam then stay indoors! Many gyms come with weight rooms, group classes, and swimming pools, and offer pick-up sports like racquetball and basketball. All the tools you need to succeed are in those buildings, you just have to show up!

Find your Why.

Why do you choose to live an active lifestyle? Use this reason to keep you going, then surround yourself with positive role models: follow fitness trainers on social media, read inspiring literature, and listen to music that pumps you up. If you find you’re feeling unmotivated, always go back to your Why.