The winter. *sigh* It’s not my favorite season. I know it gives many people a reason to cozy up and lay around, but that’s just not in my personality! Don’t get me wrong, I love a cozy evening, but generally, winter cramps my style. Maybe it’s the Ohio winters, but the snow, ice, and cold make it hard for me to be consistent in my workouts whether it’s the scary roads, delays, or my gym is closed down (yes, it’s happened), not to mention, I feel like I actually do hibernate! You get me home and in my comfy PJ’s, I have a hard time putting on those workout clothes!
So now that I’ve complained a bit (haha), I have to let you know that I don’t just give up on my health for these 3 months. I’ve had to get creative and be a little more determined in these months because I know summer bodies are made in the winter! Not to mention, I get a little stir crazy in the house so I need a great outlet for this energy!
Cue winter workouts.
While snow shoveling and snowman building do burn off some steam, I’m usually the one in the house making the hot cocoa for the family. And if the gym isn’t an option, (because my very favorite workout is lifting heavy weights!) a great winter workout is to get friendly with workouts I can do online or using my phone! We have one TV that has DVD capabilities and it’s smack dab in the middle of our living room which means it’s never free of toys or kids, so I retreat to our less than perfect basement, bring my phone or laptop, and sweat it out there! (My laptop DVD is broken so I can’t even put DVDs there. haha)
Working out at my sister’s townhouse in Chicago! Love having access to great workouts online!
Some of my favorite go-to workouts are:
– Youtube: I love Fitness Blender, Blogilates, REFIT Rev, and Revelation Wellness for FREE, fun workouts!
– Monthly Subscription Sites: In the past, I’ve been a part of FitnessGlo and Pilates Anytime. Revelation Wellness also has VIP TV. There are easy monthly subscriptions for unlimited classes!
– Smartphone Apps: I really really like Nike Training Club. I’ve mentioned it here before. Intense workouts that are easy to follow. I also love the Gymboss timer. I will pick 3 or 4 exercises and do them quickly in small spurts. The timer keeps me on point.
– Pinterest Boards: Don’t forget about all those great workouts you’ve pinned all year. This is the perfect time to use them!
And I have to be honest–some of my favorite workouts are ones I come up with when I get in my own world with my music in my ears. That’s how many of the routines I create come alive!
What are some of your favorite winter workouts? Do you prefer to enjoy the cold and outdoors? Maybe you are lucky and have a mild winter, so does your workout change at all from the rest of the year? I’d love to know and maybe I can take some tips from you!
I just found out about Tabata playlists on Spotify, that will tell you when to work and when to rest! I want to try doing a body-weight Tabata workout to one of the playlists. My goal is to make it to the gym 3x a week & then do my own thing at home 2-3x. I’ve got lots of workouts on Pinterest and bloglovin’ waiting for me! My problem is I tend to experience workout overload – where I want to do all of them and end up doing none of them. 🙁
That is an AWESOME idea! Thanks for sharing!!!
Clare
I actually love the winter (which is good, since I live in Minnesota-it’s -5 today-sheesh!) and enjoy the heat of a workout when I just can’t seem to get warm otherwise! I’m lucky enough to have a free gym at work for lunchtime workouts (still warm from my quick one today!) but those are ‘get it done’ sessions and I often ‘complete’ them later. I’m with you-I am not huge on at home workouts but it’s so hard to get out the door after work when it’s -2,000 degrees and has been dark for 3 hours (haha). I’ve found the most fun thing for me is to do a quick google search for what I want to work on (free lower body workout, free pilates, etc) and explore a bit. I just find one that looks appealing on youtube or the websites that come up and go for it-worst case scenario, it’s dumb and I laugh it off and don’t go to that person/site/instructor again. Winter is so often a few ‘better than nothing’ workouts through the day as opposed to one good session. That works for me and my schedule (and for living in the frozen tundra!)
Since going to a gym is not an option for me right now, I have to do my workouts at home. I’ve been enjoying Dr. Axe’s Burstfit Dvd workout.
Thank you for the Youtube list! My tv company just started charging for the on demand workouts and since you had just posted the list I did a fitness blender workout instead.