6 Solutions to Bust Your Winter Workout Excuses

Tis the season to gain some winter padding and not get the guilts about being unable to squeeze into your skinny jeans, right? Think again, lazy bum.

The cold is creeping in as the nights are getting longer, and it seems like a good excuse to don your doona and ditch your workout. Don’t let the winter curb your motivation and get outta your trackies and into your activewear, armed with our top solutions to bust your common winter workout excuses brought to you by Surge Fitness Perth CBD.

1. It’s too cold!

The lack of motivation to get up out of our warm and cosy bed and go is our number one workout excuse in winter, and we’ll hazard a guess it’s your too. However, heating your body temp up naturally with a workout has a soothing, calming effect on your body, just like a long soak in the tub or lying in front of an open fire on a bearskin rug (obvs).

Solution:
Put a heater in your room and set it on a timer to crank up 20 minutes before you wake up. Additionally, lay out your snuggliest workout clothes the night before so you can literally jump out of bed and into your gear.

2. It’s too dark!

If you partake in evening workouts, it’s likely the cold and dark is a major turn off. Besides, it’s scary.

Solution:
Switch your workout from evening to morning if you can, not only will you get it over and done with but daylight can motivate you. A little sunlight can strengthen your bones, boost your immune system and calcium levels and even help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. Getting your dose of sunshine vitamin (D) can be easily found in summer but in winter we’ve gotta chase it, so it’s even more important to get outside and get moving under the rays.

If going outside is just not an option, try an at-home workout, join a gym or attend a local class, from local yoga studios to personal training groups. Surge Fitness Perth CBD has a range of classes including yoga, pilates, cycle, boxing and warrior training programs - running all times of the day. So no excuses you city slickers, why not hit up one of the classes during your lunch break?

3. I don’t have time!

Yes it’s hard to fit in a gym sesh when you’re so busy and important and laden with a massive to-do list, and your workout is often the first to go out the window when time is tight.

Solution:
There’s no need to look at your workout as an all-or-nothing event. Instead, alter the way you view your workout schedule by aiming for at least 30 minutes a day. Even if it’s not in one block, commit to a few minutes taking the stairs here and walking to the train there. Pop a workout DVD on when you get home and fit in a cheeky 15 while dinner is in the oven. Rather than thinking of working out as a chunk of time you don’t have, work out ways to fit it into the intervals.

4. I’m sick!

There’s no denying winter is prime cootie season, from catching colds to feeling the flu coming on, dealing with illness is part and parcel. But, many times exercising when you have the common cold can make you feel better. It’s not completely clear why, but research has shown time and again that regular exercise strengthens your immune system so it can fight off bacterial and viral infections. Secondly, exercising in the cold doesn’t give you a cold, it actually keeps you fit and healthy.

Solution:
If you’re feeling a little congested, go at a lower intensity or pick something low impact instead - a relaxing yoga, Tai Chi or Pilates class at Surge Fitness might be the key. Working out will actually make you feel better, as long as you take care to not push yourself too much. However, if you’re blessed with chest congestion, achiness, a fever, or nausea maybe forgo the sweat session.

5. Winter woolies are forgiving!

This is that excuse where you permit yourself to wear head-to-toe Bonds and curl up with a wheel of brie and goblets of red wine and hot chocolate. That glass of wine? 30-minutes of walking. Only two cubes of cheese? Another 30-minutes. Oh, and the hot chocolate? A full hour of walking.

Letting yourself go is a sad state of affairs, not least because of the negative health consequences - plus it’s easier to maintain your weight than lose it, people. Winter comfort food is super tempting, and we’re all for treating yourself, but balance it out with even a little 15 minutes of exercise - it is proven to make a difference to your fitness and wellbeing. Couch too tempting? Enlist the help of a workout buddy to coax you out, or sign up and prepay for a class you can’t miss.

6. I got the Blues!

Grey skies got you down? SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) is a real thing, no doubt, but a daily workout releases feel-good, de-stress brain chemicals. After at least 10 minutes of exercise, the brain releases some mad wicked “feel-good” chemicals into your bod, like serotonin and dopamine, which can help to reduce anxiety and depression while boosting wellbeing.

Solution:

While winter can leave us sluggish, goal setting is a good way to keep your motivation fresh. Sign up for City to Surf or set incremental goals, like upping your workout 5 minutes a week. Setting and achieving goals is a great way to stay on track and feeling positive.

None of those got you up and moving? Well, just FYI folks, an Australian winter is all-out summer in many places around the world, so pull your knee socks up and sink a glass of concrete before getting to your workout.

Head to the Surge Fitness Website or email [email protected] for more information.