If you think you have to go to a gym in the winter time to beat the cold and get in shape, you may want to reconsider that line of thinking. You can get a substantial workout in the winter and at home, but you need to know a few things before you get started.
One, a workout consists of a stretching period (about two minutes), a warm up period (about five minutes), a cardio section of about 30-45 minutes, a strength training period of at least 20 minutes, and a cool down lasting five minutes.
Two, if you’re new to working out, you should do this type of routine at least three times a week. If not, at least five times a week. For a beginner, strength exercises should be between 10-15 reps and for others you should aim for 30 reps.
Three, you can break up your workout during the day to help achieve all of these goals, but be sure to stretch, warm up, do cardio, strength, and cool down each time. Just break up the times (for example, 10 minutes of cardio, instead 0f 30) in each session and do enough sessions to make up the whole time needed (like three sessions of 10 minutes of cardio).
Aerobics
You can do aerobics even without the videos or the stretchy outfits. Just get comfortable and get moving! Seriously, that’s what most aerobics consist of, but if you want something more streamlined and focused, check out free videos online to get a basic understanding of an aerobics routine. The great thing about this is that they incorporate all of the elements of a workout into one routine!
Develop a specialized routine
This is super simple to do and ensures you choose exercises that fit into the above formula, as well as into your lifestyle and schedule. Choose five short exercises to do for a stretch, and then another five for the warm up. Then choose a mix of strength training and cardio exercises that you can do back-to-back to keep your heart rate up as you power through your workout. Then, develop a quick cool down workout to get you stable before doing anything else. When developing your workout, be sure to include exercises for abs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, legs, neck, and buttocks.
Trampoline and Jump Rope
A small trampoline and a jump rope are two simple pieces of equipment to purchase and use at home. There are multiple exercises to do with these, and you can find many places online that will give you tips on how to make the most of your exercise routines with these pieces. The best part about them, though, is that they are fun! Plus, they are a lot cheaper to purchase than treadmills and other large exercise equipment.
Great ideas! Having cardio videos in the house helps!
Excellent tips – I always try to up my steps during the winter and do more stairs. It’s nice to have a 2 level home!
Breaking up the workout would make it so much easy to fit in during the day instead of working it in with one lump time zone!
Great post!
I try and squeeze in my 30 minute workout during nap time.
It’s the only way I have found with little ones at home that I can actually get a work out in.
All I need is a yoga mat and a DVD player and I am set!
Love the trampoline and jump roping the most. We have stairs in our home so I use them a lot too!
Great tips. Love the cute cartoon. The idea is to keep moving. I make sure to get in at least 30 minutes on the treadmill daily. I also get my weight lifting routine in every other day, it burns calories big time.
Great tips! I also like to really step up my home organization! It’s a workout in itself! Thanks!
Good ideas. The only exercise I like doing is running outdoors. It’s a no-go this time of year and my pants are tight as a result. Didn’t think about jump rope. I could do that while catching up with the DVR. 🙂
Great ideas. We have a huge trampoline out back but it’s kinda frozen right now. lol
Great tips! And just in time to shed those extra holiday pounds and get in shape. I need to get my booty moving on that and this is great motivation!
Great tips! I love having workout videos at home.
Its not finding something to do, its getting up the motivation TO do it. Having kids is SO exhausting!
Great tips. I really really need to get in gear with working out daily. These tips would easily help me to have no excuses.
While I prefer to go to the gym, sometimes I’m not able to. Thanks for sharing some great ideas for working out at home.
This is kinda what I do because it’s so daunting to have to get dressed up and go out to the gym. Much easier to just do stuff around the house.
Kas
Great tips! I wish I had a trampoline!
LOL I love the comic strip pic.
These are some great tips! Everyone around me is complaining that it’s too hard to even go out and walk during the frigid weather.
This is such a great list of suggestions. I loved the image and quote you used. It’s definitely hard to stay physically active through crazy winter weather.
Love that strip! I do need to make an effort to have a better routine. At least I try to take the stairs more though 🙂
I just added some fitness channels to my Roku so I can get in some exercise without getting bored.
great tips! One saturday I actually clocked how many steps I completed by cleaning the house – I walked over 3 miles just cleaning the house!
I really liked that comic. Very funny. Perfect tips for cold days like today.
Thanks for the reminder that there are free workout videos online. I guess I can toss that excuse out the window.
We have a trampoline outside. The neighbours may think I’m nuts if they see my face bouncing up over the fence, lol
I can’t wait to get back into working out and get my body back
We’ve got a jump rope handy and the kids love using it way more than we do.
Working out in the winter stinks! It’s so hard to get motivated it the cold! I miss working out when it’s warm!!
These are great tips to get moving. It’s so much harder during the cold months!
You wouldn’t think that a trampoline would provide the high amount of cardio that it does! It’s amazing!