Don't Let Bad Weather Stop Your Exercise
I'm an outdoor person, and prefer to get my activity doing something (anything!) outside. Exercise is great for heart health, mental health, and calorie burning, among other things. With the rainy and cold weather bombarding much of the country right now, thoughts of "spring-training" have been postponed for many people (like me) who are now awakening from winter hibernation and want to take activity up a few notches.
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is how to get some exercise when the weather is bad. Joining a gym is an obvious option for some, but cost, convenience, and interest can be major negatives for this. Here are some of my favorite and inexpensive ways to be active when I'm "cooped up."
What are some of yours?
Grab a pedometer and do a mall-walk - The pedometer is key, to track your distance. For every 2500 steps you log, it's about 1 mile - and 100 calories burned. It's not about the shopping, so pick the biggest mall you can get to easily. A good cardio effort.
Buy a mini-trampoline - These are no more than 3 feet in diameter and just a few inches off the ground. Both lightweight and portable, it can be put in a spare corner of most rooms and moved for use. You can plunk them down in front of the TV and bounce away for 20 minutes, more or less. This is great for cardio and balance.
Be (selectively) inefficient at home and at work --- We are all the ultimate multitaskers, so this can be tough. Walk down the hall to deliver a message to a co-worker (no phones or e-mail). At home, make multiple trips up and down the stairs instead of trying to make everything fit into one trip.
Walk and Talk --- Whenever you're on the phone, walk around. Those minutes add up, and so do your steps. 1200 steps is about 50 calories.
Sit on an exercise ball -- This is great for core (shoulders to hip) strength. The ball forces you to sit up straight, and maintain balance - both key to keeping your core strong.
Put on some music and dance ---- No partner necessary! No special skills or equipment, dancing is the perfect cardio activity and totally fun, even if you don't know any "formal" steps.
While April showers bring May flowers, I'm hopeful that the weather will soon clear. So, I've learned to stay active when the weather is bad, and not use it an excuse to be a coach potato. What about you?
Comments
While at work, I try to stand, walk...generally run around as much as possible. E-mails and computers tether us to our desks, so the activity seems to be even more important. It's not as good as a real cardio work out, but I see it as a baby step toward overall fitness and weight control. Loved your other tips. Maybe my employer will replace my desk chair with an exercise ball.
Try to park far away from your destination when at work or going shopping...this adds extra steps to your day!
Nice suggestions. If you watch TV in the evening, you may also want to try doing situps and pushups during commercials and/or during the TV show.
Use the stair everywhere to get more exercise in. Don't take the elevator, make extra trips upstairs or downstairs.
When I print documents at the office I go down the hall to the printer after I print each document instead of printing 10 documents and going down the hall to pick them all up at once.
For those of you that like to dance there are some great dancing videos out!Your can even dance with the stars and do it in the privacy of your own home! Dancing is a great work out! You can even wear a pedometer to see how many steps you took while dancing. You might find that you suprise yourself!
I forget where I read this specifically, but when sitting for long periods of time (planes or rainy days on the couch) you can flex your stomach muscles for 10 seconds at a time, doing 10 reps total. It really works! You can also flex and at the same time shift your upper body from side to side. Great for sitting at your desk too!
free weights are wonderful. combine them with an exercise ball, and you can create a nice little indoor exercise routine.
