These 10 Tips To Stay Active And Fit During Winter Will Keep You On Track

As we come towards the end of the year, the winter months are starting to approach. Autumn is finishing, and we are transitioning to colder weather before spring comes around.

For many of us, winter is a time to enjoy more time with family, friends, and those we love. Cold nights by the fire, winter sports, and hot beverages are just some of the fun things to enjoy. During this time, Thanksgiving and Christmas provide us with opportunities to celebrate and enjoy good food and company.

The winter season can be challenging to stay fit and healthy. Cold weather, reduced daylight hours, and bad conditions are just some of the hurdles to navigate. However, this doesn’t mean that we should just give up and wait for Spring to start.

To help you out, we’ve put together our top ten tips to stay active and fit during winter. Follow these to keep on track and enjoy the festive season.

10 Ways To Be Active When It’s Cold

As winter approaches, we’ve put together ten ways to stay fit during the cold. Here’s how to stay active in the winter months to stay on track and reach your health and fitness goals.

Try Resistance Band Exercises

Most of the time, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of resistance training is dumbbells and barbells. However, resistance bands can be just as good and offer several unique benefits.

Using resistance bands provides similar strength gains to conventional training. Alongside this, muscle recruitment is similar when the bands are stretched to their end range of motion.

Exercises like resistance band push-ups, resistance band pull aparts, and resistance band tricep pushdowns can easily be performed at home. Each of these is easy to perform and requires no equipment except resistance bands.

With this, resistance bands are a great way to train during the winter months. They can be used at home or on the go, reducing the need to travel in different conditions. This reduces the potential barriers to exercise and helps to improve training motivation.

Use An Exercise Ball 

Exercise balls, also known as Swiss balls, have been around since the 20th century. However, not everyone is aware of their many benefits, which leads them to be less commonly used when training.

Exercise balls are large, inflatable balls that move around when pressure is applied. This forces your body to balance against the ball’s instability, increasing core activation and body coordination. Alongside this, they can help to improve postural stability and reduce lower back pain. 

One of the many benefits of using exercise balls is that they offer a wide range of exercise options. Good examples include exercise ball squats, exercise ball crunches, and exercise ball push-ups.

While they’re not quite as portable as resistance bands, exercise balls are another great equipment option to integrate during winter. They offer many versatile exercise options, can be performed in the house, and are an enjoyable form of exercise.

Do Light Stretches

During the colder months of winter, our body needs to work harder to stay warm. This is one of the main reasons why we may feel less alert and energetic. 

However, these colder muscle temperatures mean that more attention needs to be paid to the warm-up and cool-down periods when exercising. If performed incorrectly, this can increase the risk of injury and, therefore, time off training. 

Warming up helps increase blood flow, improve body temperature, and lubricate important joints for exercise. It should consist of light aerobic exercise and dynamic stretches, which are stretches performed without a hold. 

The cooldown period following exercise is equally important for injury prevention and performance through winter. This should consist of aerobic exercise and light static stretches. Good examples include the knee hug glute stretch, cross-body shoulder stretch, and doorway chest stretch. 

Both of these performance elements should be given equal attention throughout the year. However, they become even more vital during the winter months when looking to stay fit and active.

Use Sliders Or Towels

Just like resistance bands and exercise balls, sliders and towels are excellent equipment options. They can also be used from the comfort of your own home, reducing the need to travel. This is often a common barrier to exercise.

When used correctly, sliders and towels drastically increase the core stability and balance requirements of exercise. This means that your body needs to work harder to maintain an efficient exercise position. Over time, this can improve core stability and elements of sports performance.

Both sliders and towels can be used around the home with little trouble. They provide a workout challenge, are cheap to purchase, and offer many versatile exercise choices. These include the curtsy lunge with towel and plank pike slide with towel.

When approached correctly, good exercise variety may help to improve motivation while offering similar muscle adaptations. Sliders and towels are great alternative exercise options alongside exercise balls and resistance bands.

Try Wall Exercises

Chances are that if you’re reading this article, you either own your own home or live in someone else’s. Alternatively, you may live in a mobile home or in the outdoors, which are also great choices. Wherever you live, you should always have access to a wall, whether it’s in your house or in outdoor environments.

Wall exercises are great for many reasons. To start with, they require absolutely no equipment. All you need is a suitable wall and open space. Alongside this, wall exercises cost nothing, are easy to scale, and can be very enjoyable.

During the colder winter months, each of these forms important parts of a much wider puzzle. Examples of amazing wall exercises include the wall sit, the wall tricep press, and the wall push-up. Try each of these during winter and see the amazing benefits for yourself.

Try Calisthenics

Even if you’re unsure what calisthenics is, you’ll most likely have heard of it. Calisthenics can be defined as a form of functional exercise that uses your leverage and gravity to challenge your fitness. Calisthenics exercises use your body weight alongside minimal equipment, such as a bar or pole.

Examples of calisthenics exercises include pull-ups, dips, and push-ups. These are simple bodyweight exercises that can be performed at home or in the park depending on the weather conditions. This is just one of the many reasons that make them great for winter training. 

Other benefits include improvements in functional strength, mobility, and general fitness. Have a go at them during winter from the comfort of your own home or with friends in different places.

Do A Christmas Fitness Challenge

Christmas is a time to enjoy with family and friends. Playing games at home, enjoying the festive markets, and talking around the fire are great Christmas activities. With this, what other Christmas-themed activities can you do?

Christmas fitness challenges provide a great way to improve exercise engagement and enjoy a workout with friends and family. They’re Christmas-themed, help to keep active and fit, and provide an opportunity for you to compete against family and friends.

To help you out, we’ve put together a 7-Day Christmas Fitness Challenge for you to enjoy. It’s full of functional exercises and cardio-based fun so you can fit down the chimney in no time at all!

Try 5-Minute “Mini-Bursts” Throughout The Day

When most people think of exercise, they think of spending endless hours in a squat rack or on a bike. However, it really doesn’t need to be like this. When exercise volume is equal, it doesn’t matter if you perform it in one go or in quick, short bursts.

Five-minute bursts are quick and enjoyable ways to exercise throughout the day and on the go. What this means is that you perform five minutes of activity each hour to break up inactivity and improve engagement. Great exercise examples include jumping jacks, squats, and high knees. 

During winter, this can help to keep your metabolism active and energy levels steady. Both of these are important as the colder conditions set in.

Perform these shorter bursts throughout the day during winter to enjoy the benefits of cardio and keep in shape.

Try Jump Roping

If you went to school, I’m sure you’ll remember the days of jump roping with your friends in the playgrounds. With many versatile jump rope benefits, it’s often used as a common playground activity during childhood. However, it’s not often continued when leaving school and transitioning into adulthood. 

Despite its simplicity, jump roping can be used as a potent form of cardiovascular exercise. It elevates the heart rate, enhances endurance, and improves movement efficiency. Furthermore, it’s a great way to work on balance and full-body coordination.

During the colder winter months, use jump roping to stay warm and improve your general fitness. Perform a winter workout at home or with friends while using fun challenges and workouts.

Go Skiing And Snowboarding

If there are two sports that are generally associated with Christmas, it’s skiing and snowboarding. One thing you need for this is snow, which winter usually offers in abundance. If you’re thinking about what to do when it’s cold outside, these are your options.

Besides being enjoyable with friends and family, these winter sports provide a great way to stay in shape. Mixing these with the right winter sport conditioning routine is a great way to stay active and maintain performance.

During the winter months, grab your gear and enjoy these winter activities with your family and friends. There’s nothing better than staying active and fit while enjoying it at the same time!

Why Is It Harder To Stay Active In The Winter?

There’s no denying that the winter months can be tough. In some places, temperatures can reach well into the negative degrees. The lowest temperature ever recorded during the winter months was minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica.

While you might not be exercising in Antarctica, colder temperatures certainly make it harder to stay active. During this time, the body needs to work harder to maintain temperature and energy levels needed for important physiological functions. 

One way it does this is by slowing down our metabolism and reducing natural physical activity. When this happens, it’s completely normal to feel more tired and less alert than during the summer months.

However, this doesn’t mean that you need to give up and wait for winter to pass. Staying fit and active is possible if you correctly implement the tips above. Adding them into your routine to stay on track throughout the winter period.

Other Things To Keep In Mind 

• Utilize Different Environments — Taking advantage of the different environments allows you to keep active and prevent unnecessary breaks. Utilize outdoor environments to increase your mood, decrease stress, and improve your enjoyment levels. Use indoor environments during poor weather or when you require advanced equipment.
• Dress Appropriately — Differences in indoor and outdoor environments require you to dress accordingly. Wear layers when exercising outdoors to keep dry and warm and prevent illness. Normal exercise clothing can be worn indoors, provided that the environment is well-heated.
• Stay Hydrated At All Times — Almost 60% of the human body is made of water, which means we need it to survive and function. Staying hydrated is important for temperature regulation, cell function, and general health. Males should aim for 3.7 liters of water a day, while females should aim for 2.7 liters.
• Warm-Up Properly And Cool Down Gradually — Performing high-quality warm-ups and cool-downs ensures the correct body temperature, joint lubrication, and blood flow. This is especially important during the winter months as the body works harder to maintain these. Perform gradual warm-ups and cool-downs to allow your body to adjust.
• Ensure Enough Sleep And Recovery — Staying active during the winter months requires more energy to keep warm, making rest and recovery even more vital. Ensure you get at least seven hours of sleep per night to allow your brain and body to recover. Allow at least 48 hours between workout sessions that work the same muscle groups.
• Avoid Heavy Meals Following Workouts — The period following a workout replenishes the body’s vital energy stores and fuels physiological adaptions such as muscle growth. However, fuel needs, for example, protein, are regulated over a much longer term. Be careful not to overindulge following a workout during the colder months, as your body naturally increases its energy usage.

Conclusion

The winter period is undoubtedly a harder time to stay active and fit. Cold weather, poor conditions, and reduced daylight hours are just some of the many possible reasons. However, you can stay on track during the winter months if you learn how to navigate them.

These ten tips are some of the many clever ways to change your routine to suit the environment around you. Utilize them according to your lifestyle and workout goals.

While you might already be looking forward to summer, you don’t have to give up. We’re here to help you stay active and fit and enjoy some of the joys of winter while doing it. Have a go at some of our tips, and you might be surprised by the results!

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