Hello everyone. This is a guest post from Chris Stillwell
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With the nights drawing in and temperatures dropping, the motivation to head out into the dark and cold can be hard to come by. Wouldn’t it be much nicer to stay tucked up under a duvet or firmly relaxing on the sofa?
If self-guilt isn’t powerful enough to get you going, we’ve come up with 5 ways to motivate yourself to keep exercising during the winter months…
1) Get The Right Gear
Having the right equipment for the job is important when it comes to winter exercise. When you first step out of the door you’ll feel the cold but as you start to exercise your body will warm up and stay warm.
A good base layer will help to manage your body temperature, stop you overheating and wick the moisture and perspiration away from your body to stop you getting cold. Synthetic materials work well for this as does the slightly pricier natural merino wool.
Wearing a hat, headband or both, can help to reduce the amount of body heat escaping through your head whilst you exercise. Both will keep you warm whilst you wait for your body temperature to rise and if you do get too hot, you can always slip them off.
If your fingers feel the cold, it’s worth considering a pair of gloves to keep them warm, again it’s important to look for a pair that will wick any moisture away.
2) Challenge Yourself
Creating yourself a challenge can help create the mental determination needed to carry on exercising through the cold. Have a look at the sporting event calendar for the winter months and although it’s more sparse than summer, there are competitive and fun events to sign up for.
Why not sign up for a fun run, half marathon or similar event so you not only have something to aim for but you’ll have to keep training to make sure you’re in a fit enough state to take part. If there are no events in your area running over the winter months, why not sign up for the first event of the new season so then you’ll still have to train through winter.
3) Reward Yourself
The winter months are usually filled with opportunities for a party or get together, from bonfire night to Christmas and New Year there will be plenty of opportunities to relax and let loose. See these events as a mini reward for yourself for carrying on your training. If you need an equally big motivator and reward, book yourself a beach break for the New Year and that way you’ll want to keep beach body fit.
4) Take Outside Exercise Indoors
It might sound a bit obvious, but if you’re lacking the motivation to head outside for your usual exercise, try staying indoors and exercising. If you’re a cyclist, getting hold of a turbo trainer that attaches to the rear wheel of your bike will allow you to adapt your existing bike for indoor use instead of getting an exercise bike. Simply adjusting the settings of the turbo trainer can increase and decrease resistance to give you more or less of a workout.
Those who are into running can obviously hop on a treadmill and recreate their usual outdoor runs by adjusting the incline and speed as needed.
5) Try Something New
Winter could be the perfect opportunity to try a new exercise or sport. Taking up something new is exciting and watching yourself improve over time can provide motivation to carry on and push yourself harder. A new sport can be a good way to develop muscle groups you may have been neglecting or wish to develop further. Hitting the pool or jumping on a bike will focus on toning different muscles than running and you never know, you might find something new you actually enjoy.
About The Author:
This guest post was written free of charge by Chris Stillwell who writes for Confused.com