ObesityHelp Community Tips: Winter Workouts
January 12, 2015While exercise is beneficial all year, staying active can provide much needed additional health benefits during the winter:
- Boost your immune system - Research shows exercise can strengthen the immune system which can help you fight off cold and viruses that are more prevalent during winter months.
- Boost your mood - Exercise can help you beat the winter blues by helping you relieve stress. Getting outdoors as often as possible will give you a healthy dose of time in the sun which can benefit those dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
- Keeps you warm - the more you move, the higher your body temperature.
During the winter months cold temperatures, ice and snow can often interfere with exercise plans, so we reached out to our ObesityHelp members to get their tips for winter workouts!
Winter Workout Tips from the ObesityHelp Community:
How do you stay active during the winter months? Do you brave the cold temps to exercise outdoors? Do you have a favorite workout DVD or YouTube channel for at home exercise?
"Four words - Under Armour Cold Gear." - Gwen M.
"Go to the rec center, and when outside LAYERS." - Lee S.
"Hat, gloves, running tights and jacket. After a few minutes of running I am warmer than I want to be. I also love classes at my local gym including spinning, body shred and TRX." - Braceface
"I have a few Walk Away the Pounds DVDs. They don't require any equipment and only a small area. I myself have discovered I enjoy walking late evening. We live in the country on a farm and I have bundled up at 7 degrees out and walked at 10:30 at night sometimes. Our dogs folllow me around. I walk up and down the driveway and around the barns. I put on my ipod and set my timer for 30 minutes and away I go. I find the cold invigorating and even at 7 degrees, I can still work up a sweat. I will be using the DVD's when like today it snowed and the windchill is supposed to be below zero." - shakeitoff
"If you walk the perimeter of each floor at my local mall, it's exactly 3 miles." - AngryViking
"I have a treadmill and I do a Jillian Michaels workout video." - jaifra78
"The Y is on the way home from work, so it makes it really convenient. I'm really glad I started incorporating weights - I'm seeing really good results. My wife loves to do Zumba at home. She has a couple of games for the Xbox, and the camera tracks her and scores her to make sure she's doing the moves right. She also likes to find Zumba routines on Youtube. We recently got an Amazon Fire TV, and they play right on there." - wcdaniels
"Shivering. (*grin*)" - MsBatt
"I walk down each and every isle in the grocery store, which is about once a week. If I need only one item I still walk down every isle. Sometimes 2 or 3 times too. Been to the Mall also got my boyfriend walking with me also. I stick to walking for now as I can't do much else because of my hernia. Staying warm and getting my exercise on. I also Chair Dance at my computer desk while singing online Karaoke..Fun Fun Fun." - huskergalWsD
"When I lived in IL, I joined the YMCA down the road and enjoyed the classes, like Zumba. Believe it or not I loved swimming. I made sure I had a warm hat before I went home. If it was really bad out, I didn't like driving and used Zumba DVDs, my exercise bike and the On Demand TV workouts." - Kathy S.
"I sometimes go to Costco or a Home Depot/Lowes and load up a cart and push it around for 20 minutes or so, than unload it and buy what I need. This cart of soda is near 1000lbs. I get upper body buy loading and unloading and cardio by pushing it around...... eat a few samples and I'm good!" - frisco
"Turn on some tunes and get jiggy, bust-a-move, shake my moneymaker, get my groove on. Dance! 5 songs = is about a 15 minute work out, do that in the AM and PM. Stay inside, it's free, burns calories, keeps you up on the latest jams so you are the cool Mom (or Aunt.) Just don't use the word jams because that isn't cool ;)" - Eggface
"I walk the isles of Walmart for an hour every day then in the afternoon bundle up and walk some more." - Kathyjs
"I joined the local Y and take several classes per week there. I've downloaded Cathe Friedrich workouts to my laptop for when I'm traveling. I can do her kickboxing from the comfort of my hotel room :)" - iloveravens
"If I am housebound, I blast music and have a dance party w/my kiddo. Also I have yoga podcasts that I can do from anywhere. And I am lucky enough to have a gym in my office, so I hit that everyday at lunch!" - Stacy_WLS
"I go to the gym and I walk around the covered part of the building at work and of course play with the kiddos." - Sandie E.
"Gym at work five to six days a week for at least five miles and supplement with T-25 at home a few days a week along with stretching daily. My rule is no running outside unless it hits 50! Love the gym treadmills with TV and the regular crowd is supportive as well...good luck!" - TomN
"I try to exercise OUTSIDE as much as possible but if the cold is too much I have a YMCA membership and take parts in all types of exercises to include running; spinning; swimming; weight lifting; Boot Camp; Body Pump and Cardio Kick boxing...whatever I do I try to move it move it!!" - billmacc7
"I like exercising at the gym, mostly bike riding & using the weights, occasionally use the treadmill & will consider taking some of the yoga classes there. On days I can't make it to the gym, I'll use the exercise bike I have at home & am thinking of buying the Kinect sensor for X box so I can play active games/dance in the house. Other times I walk around the station at work, or do a perimeter walk/inspection around the station., & try to get my 10 thousand steps in for the day." - 1lasttime
"Cold weather doesn't stop me from hitting the gym 7 days a week. I have the insanity DVDs that I use for my cardio in my basement each morning. After work I hit the gym. I LOVE winter because I can wear bulky clothes and work hard on my body composition...come summer....oh the bathing suits are a very exciting time finally for me." - Lyss R.
"I try not to let the seasonal weather affect my exercise routine. When it comes to running, I'd rather be outside than anywhere. However, we do have some pretty cold days, and for those I go to the gym and do boot camp or cross boxing, or run on my "dreadmill"........which I HATE but will do when I have to. I also have a makeshift gym in my basement where I can do P90X and other DVD workouts." - Kim S.
"Where I live, we definitely have long winters and get hit with lake effect snow and black ice on the roads. I have a desk job, so I put a mini "desk cycle" under my desk to get a little activity in. I also have a normal recumbent bike, a few favorite dvds that I alternate between and I'm slowly trying to learn a little yoga via Abby's youtube page: HeavyWeightYoga" - Allison S.
"FitnessBlender" has a plethora of workout videos that are free. HIIT workouts, cardio, pilates, etc. I have a spin bike at home so I spin 5-6 days a week and strength train 6 days a week. I do body weight exercises and weights. It's good stuff!" - Angela F.
"I live in CA...It hit 65 degrees today...I had to suffer through it, but I managed!! I rode my bike today (doctor's office and Wendy's Chili). I ride my bike most days here. When it is raining outside I will put on some music and just walk around the house, my little paths...30-45 minute. I will add some jogging to it. I will sometimes pick up a 2-3 pound weight and move it around my body while I'm walking. You don't need a weight...Just use a can or anything that weights 2-4 pounds...Put it over your head, move it around your back, hold it in front of you...Be creative. During my walk I will come up to a kitchen counter and do modified pushups too. I will also punch and kickbox the air. No one is watching (it looks strange to an outsider)...But it works for me." - cabin111
"Move to South Carolina. We have about two weeks of winter. We even had frost one morning about two years ago." - tstowe
You can find more fitness tips and discussion on the Exercise and Fitness Forum.
You can track your activity with the Health Tracker, and set activity goals with the Goals System.
Read more ObesityHelp Community Tips!
Featured image credit: clarkmaxwell cc
