Exercise during the winter months - top tips!

As we all know, it’s harder to keep motivated to be active during the winter months when it is more appealing to stay cosy indoors – especially as people are stricken with winter colds and other ailments that prevent them from exercising. Well here are some top tips to stay fit during the winter months and reduce the likelihood of you getting ill in the first place:

Plan exercise into your day – why not exercise at a time when you feel most energised. You may find it difficult to motivate yourself to get up and out if you get home after a long day, so you could pack your exercise gear so that you can go to the gym on the way home from work. Otherwise, you could feel invigorated and refreshed by a pre-work visit to the gym.
Try something new – we are more likely to stay motivated to be active if we enjoy the activity or type of exercise we choose. If you’re finding it hard to get out for that daily walk, why not head along to your local gym and go for a swim or to a fitness class or get a gym instructor to make up programme for you. Variety is the spice of life and as, perhaps not surprisingly, group exercise has recently been proven to be more effective than exercising on your own, why not get a friend or a family member involved?
Be prepared – if you don’t like the gym and would prefer to be active outdoors, it’s obviously important to layer up and keep warm. Modern clothing like base layers and primaloft jackets are lightweight and are designed to keep you warm whilst allowing normal movement and ‘wicking’ to draw moisture away from your skin. Do make sure that you warm up slowly and stretch before you start vigorous exercise in colder weather and remember to stretch out when you finish to prevent injuries in the short and long term.
Keep yourself active and prevent injury by having a massage or Osteopathic treatment every month or two
Increase your opportunities to be active generally – perhaps by using the stairs or a standing desk at work and having regular breaks where possible. You could even park your car a little way from work, wrap up warm and briskly walk to and from the car or go out for a walk at lunch time, on your own or with a colleague, with the added benefit that you are outside for that all important light exposure during the winter months (it doesn’t have to be sunny)