Training through Winter

For obvious reasons, I am a huge advocate of exercising all year round but for many, Winter is a really tough time to keep up the motivation to train.  I get it, it’s cold and dark and bed is snuggly and warm, or Netflix has dropped a new season of your favourite show and the couch is calling.  But we are not bears, and we don’t need to hibernate!  In fact, it’s even more important to keep moving during the colder months and here are a few reasons why:

1.       Feel the Vitamin D on your skin

Just because it is Winter, it isn’t always dark.  Getting out in the Winter sun is vital to keeping up your vitamin D levels which in turn, is necessary for helping your immune system strong as well as your bones and muscles.  Sure, you can take supplements but getting a natural hit from the sun while you get in a side order of training is always going to be the best option.

2.       Boost your immunity

This Winter is full of colds, flus and ongoing issues with Covid but regular exercise that gets your blood pumping means you are increasing the circulation of immune cells in your body.  The increase of blood and lymph through exercise helps get the all-powerful white blood cells to more locations in your body where they have more opportunities to find and identify unwanted bacteria and viruses.  Honestly, the human body is an amazing creation! 

3.       Avoid the blues

Avoiding the winter blues is another great reason to pop on the runners and train.  I’ve talked about seasonal affective disorder (SAD) before – you can click here to read more – and exercise is a key choice you can make to help support your mental wellbeing when the days are long, dark and cold. 

4.       Avoiding the spread

Abruptly stopping your summer fitness campaign because it’s become a little cold is likely to cause you to add a little weight.  In fact, the average person puts on 4kg across Winter meaning they have to start all over again when the weather warms up and they get back to training.  Avoid the problem and maintaining your training will help you stay on track and be summer body confident the minute the warm weather hits!

5.       Sleep, glorious sleep

There are many studies that prove there is a link between regular exercise and good sleep.  So, consider this – regular exercise in Winter will make sure that those hours snuggled under the doona will be of even more value as your sleep quality will be vastly improved.  What’s not to love about that?  You get to enjoy your doona time completely guilt free because you know you’ve done something good for your body and mind.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Motivation can be tough at this time of year but you can read here for more tips on staying focussed.  So, come on then,  let’s get moving!  Go for a walk, a run or book into a session at the Studio and make this Winter count!