Winter has arrived, and depending on where you live, you might be dealing with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures, making you want to stay cozy indoors. However, for some, winter brings unique activities that aren’t available during other seasons.
If you enjoy being active but dislike the cold, staying active in winter can be challenging. To keep moving, you might need to explore winter sports, engage in outdoor hobbies, adapt your favorite summer sports, or find indoor activities.
Think about what you enjoy doing in the summer to help decide on winter activities. If you’re into hiking, canoeing, or swimming, consider winter sports to stay active. Snowshoeing, skiing, and ice skating are great winter alternatives for your favorite summer activities. Not only are they fun, but they also help you stay active and break the winter monotony.
Instead of hibernating all winter, try picking up a winter sport to keep yourself outdoors and engaged. Some activities are more intense than others, but you don’t always need a full-body workout. Low-impact outdoor hobbies can also get you out of the house. Making snow angels, building snowmen, or sledding are enjoyable ways to be outside and stay active. Metal detecting for lost items in the snow offers exercise suitable for any age. Ice fishing, bird watching, and photography are other hobbies where you’ll spend time outdoors without intense exercise.
For summer enthusiasts who typically hike or walk their dog, making a snow angel or bird watching might not suffice, but it’s a way to get outside and stay moving.
Cold weather doesn’t mean you have to quit your summer activities; you might just need to adapt them. Camping, jogging, biking, and rock climbing can all be modified for winter. Even winter surfing is possible with the right wetsuit. Staying active outdoors isn’t just for warm weather; many summer activities can be adjusted for the cold. You could snowshoe to a winter camping spot, jog with warmer clothes, use wider bike tires, or find a different rock climbing location.
If braving the cold isn’t for you, indoor workouts are viable alternatives. Joining a gym, getting a home workout machine, using Wii workouts, or focusing on at-home exercises can keep you active. While outdoor winter fun is great, it might not easily fit into a daily workout routine.
Some prefer indoor exercises over bundling up for snowshoeing. A simple indoor workout could be a set of crunches, pushups, lunges, or yoga to stay active and warm.
The key is to keep moving during these challenging months. Whether through winter sports, outdoor hobbies, modified summer activities, or indoor workouts, you can stay active in winter instead of just binge-watching Netflix under a blanket at home.
