Maintaining fitness through winter

Saturday, November 02, 2013

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The urgency of getting that ’beach body’ is over unless you happen to be jetting off somewhere hot over the next few months (alright for some). However, it would be such a waste of all that effort if we let ourselves go over the winter period. Maybe you want to set your sights on being trim for that Christmas party season if you have one. Personally I would like to maintain a good level of fitness all year round and ideally make a bit of progress with my body shape and performance in time for the spring. For those of you that have a gym membership this should be a doddle, just keep going, make that effort to keep up a good routine and smile in the knowledge that while the wind is howling outside you are in the same air conditioned environment that you enjoyed all summer. If like me you rely on heading outside for your workout then things can get a little tricky. I wrote about how my outdoor running season has ended, barring weekends and I'm still yet to get a treadmill. I went for a run after 3 weeks off for various reasons and gosh, I've taken a hit on endurance already! If you are lucky enough to be able to run in a lit area then make good use of it, but be safe, make sure you are visible and that someone knows where you are going and when to expect you back.

Whilst at the beach in the summer I asked Husband why he wasn't taking his tee off to sunbathe as he had been working out all year on his beach body. He replied that indeed he had been working on his 2014 beach body. Silly as it sounded, (he's in great shape) he had a point: you don't arrive at the beach ready figure just from a couple of weeks/months of effort, it's a longer term commitment. If you can enjoy fitting regular exercise into your lifestyle then you get the best of both worlds, seeing progress in yourself plus a hobby.

There are thousands of YouTube workouts and tutorials to inspire you and follow. Set aside a bit of time to workout when you get in from work then you can enjoy the rest of your evening without feeling guilty. There are plenty of workouts that do not require any equipment at all, although a few basics are a real asset. My personal favourites are the 30 day Shred and 6 week six pack (both Jillian Michaels),  and Carly Rowena’s YouTube workouts.

Do you have anything to add about how to avoid the pitfalls of giving up exercise in winter?

PS. I've found a fitness blog that's a great read called Unorthodox Strategy so if you like a bit of frank and funny banter then head on over.

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Sometimes I am sent items to feature as part of a post and these will be clearly mentioned as part of each post.Everything else is bought by myself. Any sponsored or collaboration posts will be clearly marked. Each post is my own content and all opinions are honest.