8 Winter Work Out Tips

Have a backup plan

Creating a winter work out plan can be hard as the weather is often unpredictable. This is why you need to always have something up your sleeve, an alternate indoor work out if its raining or vice versa if the weather is beautiful and your plans were indoor. Take advantage of good weather days.

Warm up

Warming up in Winter is essential to getting an effective and injury-free work out completed. A warm-up will help to slowly increase your heart rate and prepare your stiff body and increase blood flow ready for a surge of energy.

Cool down

Cooling down is just as important as a warm-up. Cooling down can simply involve a stretch or light, low-impact exercise. During a cool down your heart rate slowly decreases and your body can recover from the workout it has just done. This will again help to prevent injury and keep the calorie burning process going.

Stay hydrated

Keeping your body hydrated in Winter is just as important as it is in the warmer months. Water helps to keep your body temperature stable and also replaces fluids lost through sweat when working out. By staying hydrated when exercising your body is less likely to get dehydrated and hinder your performance. So a workout with regular water consumption is often more effective than one without.

Layer your clothing

Staying warm when working out in Winter is key to a good exercise, especially when you are outdoors. Much like a warm-up you want your muscles to be at a regulated temperature for optimal performance and to reduce the risk of injury. Cold weather, especially in the early mornings and evening, can cause a serious health risk when not wearing effective outerwear. We recommend laying your clothing so you can remove items and add them back for consistent body temperature.

Follow an exercise guide

By following an exercise guide you can jump out of bed and smash out the exercise without thinking too much on what to do. Your full workout is laid out in black and white and you know what is neeeded. This can be key to staying consistent and doing effective work out in the cooler months of the year. After all Summer bodies are made in Winter.

Set alarms

Alarms can be very helpful when attempting a regular work out routine. These don't have to be limited to AM wake up calls. By setting a lunchtime workout alarm you are reminded daily and reduce the risk of forgetting. This can also be handy to set an alarm 15-20 minutes after arriving home from a day of work to get you back up and moving. Even better you can set alarms at the begging of the week for each day and the times that suite you best so there are no excuses.

Create routine

Much like setting alarms by creating a routine you reduce the risk of forgetting when to workout. This can be as simple as working out during your lunch break every day for 2 weeks or even alternating morning and night exercise for a month. This way you know Monday night is the gym, Tuesday morning is Yoga and so on. This doesn't need to be the same all of the time and is easy to adjust when events or life changes come up.

Let us know in the comments below how you stay on top of working out in Winter.