Working Out in Winter Months

I’ve previously written about working out with my kids in tow. In thinking about exercise recently, I’ve come to realize that I rely on the outdoors, and more specifically on good weather, for most of it. Living in the Northeast with cold, icy winter weather makes me realize that I’m going to need to do some adjusting as it pertains to my regular exercise routine.

Don’t get me wrong - I actually really like cold weather and winter sports. The problem is how to do my physical activity outside with the kids underfoot! In the summer this is more easily accomplished - we go for walks, hikes, swim, play in the yard, garden, etc. The winter is more problematic. My 16 mo. old is not so steady on ice. His 3 and 4 year old siblings like to play in the snow but it takes 30 minutes to get winter gear on, and then another 30 minutes to get it back on after needing to “go.”

When I commute to and from work, I like to get off the subway a few stops earlier, or catch one a few stops away, and get a little walk in. When I do errands, it is no big deal to park a little further away and get a little extra walk from the parking lot to the store. However, I’m a little less motivated to do all of this in sub-zero or blizzard conditions.

So my best strategy is to do multiple bouts of exercise for a shorter duration. And even more importantly, I do not discount these shorter bouts of exercise. They really do add up if you track them!

With my busy schedule, even short bouts of exercise take a little more problem-solving. I have to plan this out as it is a change from my usual routine. But it is not impossible and does not have to be all or nothing. And it doesn’t all have to be outside of the house.

Here is what it can look like for me:

• Go out walking for 10-15 minutes, come back in to warm up, then go back out for more. I try to do this both in the morning and the afternoon.
• We do multiple errands that are close to each other (pharmacy and library) and park near one but walk to the other and back.
• We use the On Demand feature of our DVR for yoga from the Kids Fitness category. This is a great “late in the day” or “before bed” routine for us.
• And of course our days are not complete without some sort of dance party to tunes on my iPod while a meal is cooking in the kitchen. Constant movement for 20 to 30 minutes, even at a lower intensity, can still add up to a lot of physical activity calories over the course of a week.

I’ve also enrolled my 2 oldest kids in skating lessons so that we can do some public skating in the near future. My husband drives them to class, and I walk there to meet them pushing the toddler in a stroller (20 minutes of walking for me!). At times I hope for snow so that I can count the calories I will burn shoveling, and when I’m dragging the kids uphill in a sled so that we can sled together – that’s a high intensity workout!

Put this all together and you can see that short bouts of exercise really add up. If I looked at each one of these activities on its own, I might be tempted to think of it as just part of my day and not an actual workout. But if you track it, you would be surprised at how many physical activity calories can add up by the end of the day, and at the end of the week.

 

by PeggyKerans on 02/07/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: motivation, exercise, strategies, kids, mommy blog