Staying physically active during winter can be challenging. Shorter days, cold temperatures, and holiday busyness can drain your motivation to exercise. However, maintaining a fitness routine during the winter months is crucial for supporting immunity, mental health, and preventing weight gain.
This article will provide you with helpful strategies to stay motivated with your workouts even when it’s cold outside. Let’s look at some ways you can set yourself up for fitness success this winter!
Helpful Ways to Keep Exercising This Winter
1. Schedule workouts in advance
Planning out your exercise sessions in advance can help cement them into your schedule. Treat your workout plans with the same level of importance as other obligations and appointments by marking them in your calendar. Having a commitment on the books makes it harder to conveniently “skip” a workout.
Aim to schedule 2-3 exercise sessions per week, even if they are shorter 30-minute routines. When setting workout plans, factor in things like your workload, weather, holidays, and family visits. Having an adaptable but consistent schedule keeps you accountable.
2. Make it social
Exercising with others can transform your solo workouts into a fun social event. Consider joining a recreational sports team, taking group fitness classes, or convincing a friend to be your gym buddy. Having people depend on you showing up can provide external motivation to get to the gym.
Group workouts also give you a chance to catch up with friends and feed off each other’s energy. Sign up for that weekly spin class together or meet on Saturday mornings for a park run. Moving in a pack makes winter workouts something to look forward to.
3. Track your progress
Monitoring your exercise achievements over time can give you a powerful sense of accomplishment. Use a fitness tracker, app, or journal to record your workouts and key metrics like duration, distance, speed, or weight lifted.
Seeing tangible evidence of your progress, even small improvements, provides motivation to keep pushing yourself. Review your stats regularly to celebrate fitness milestones, identify weaknesses to improve, and prove your commitment over time.
4. Have a backup plan
Cold snaps or icy conditions can derail even the best-laid plans for outdoor winter workouts. Be ready with a Plan B of enjoyable indoor activities like dance workouts, yoga flows, stair climbing, or strength training with your home weights.
Having flexibility with backup indoor options makes it easier to adapt when the weather ruins your plans to exercise outside. You’ll be able to maintain your fitness routine no matter what winter throws at you.
5. Reward yourself after cold-weather workouts
When it’s freezing outside but you bundled up and crushed your workout anyway, you deserve a reward! After an icy run or bike ride, treat yourself to a warm bubble bath, cozy sweater fresh from the dryer, or a soothing cup of hot chocolate.
Having something relaxing and indulgent to look forward to makes wintertime workouts more bearable. Use these little well-deserved treats to celebrate your fitness achievements all season long.
Don’t Let Winter Derail Your Fitness Goals
Staying physically fit during the winter months is important for your overall health. Use strategies like advance workout planning, group exercising, progress tracking, indoor backup options, and post-workout rewards to keep yourself motivated when it’s cold outside.
With the right mindset, social support, and adaptability, you can maintain your fitness routine through winter. Visit our website to learn more about our fitness classes or answer this quick survey on how we can help you. Let’s crush those fitness goals together!
