Follow These Tips to Help Stay Fit During the Chilly Months
For Beth Shaw, winter is one of the best times of the year to get – and stay – fit. “The opportunity to go for a run in the cold is a beautiful gift,” says the founder of YogaFit, the largest yoga fitness education school in the world with more than 200,000 instructors trained on six continents. “The air is usually fresh and clean and the body burns more brown fat trying to keep warm in the cold. I also love [to walk] through the streets of New York when it's snowing or to bundle up and walk to the gym; however, sometimes it's just too cold to do an outdoor workout – my cold threshold usually stops at 25 degrees!”
As you prepare for the winter months,, don't let the cold weather hold you back from getting and staying in shape. Embrace the chill, and heed these tips from fitness experts (and consult your doctor) on the best ways to stay in shape this winter.
GO OM. Besides the obvious physical and mental benefits yoga provides – hello, lean and sculpted muscles and a clear mind! - it also keeps you trim. In a study of 15,500 average-weight adults, people gained three fewer pounds annually over the course of four years when they performed thirty minutes of yoga per week. Shaw recommends doing the sequence below before or after a twenty-five to thirty-minute run outdoors. If you've never done yoga before, get the basics at your local studio and then transition into doing this routine solo.
Chair Flow. Begin your warm up with Chair Flow. Come to the top of your yoga mat standing with feet hip-width apart. Extend arms out from your shoulders. Extend arms out from your shoulders, bend your knees, and sit back as if you are sitting in a chair. Straighten your legs and extend your arms to the sky. This works the legs, especially the quads and glutes. Repeat ten to fifteen times.
Plank Push-ups. Drop chest toward the floor then push back to plank. Keep your hands right underneath your shoulders or closer together. Repeat ten to fifteen times.
Warrior One. From Downward-Facing Dog, step your right foot forward and drop your left knee. Extend your arms to the sky. Arms should be stacked over the shoulders, fingertips reaching toward the sky. For a more advanced move, do not drop your knee. Swing arms down and step back into Downward-Facing Dog. Move to plank pose and do a plank push-up. Come back to Downward-Facing Dog. Repeat, this time stepping left foot forward. Repeat sequence on both sides five to ten times.
THINK CIRCUIT TRAINING. “A circuit is great for winter months because it burns a ton of calories, shreds fat, tones muscle, and can be done at home, in a hotel room, or really anywhere because it requires no equipment!” says Ashley Conrad, CEO of Clutch Bodyshop, who trains stars like Kate Hudson and Penelope Cruz. “The aftermath of this type of circuit training has been shown to increase metabolism 800 percent during the rest of the day, shredding fat without having to forge through the snow to get to the gym. That's clutch.” Below, Conrad lays out her go-to circuit, which should be performed six times through.
USE YOUR TIME WISELY. Every minute counts when it comes to exercising, so take advantage of your inside time by sneaking in quick bursts of workouts throughout your day. David L. Katz, MD, founding director of Yale University Prevention Research Center, and his colleagues, created A-B-E for Fitness (Activity Bursts Everywhere), an evidence-based program designed on the idea that small bursts of physical activity spread over the course of the day are just as if not more beneficial than longer daily bouts of exercise. The program provides free three- to eight-minute videos of activity bursts that you can do throughout your day. Or, stash resistance bands in your desk at work. Take advantage of downtime or breaks and use the bands to perform lateral squats, standing reverse flies, bicep curls, or tricep extensions. Written by Blake Miller. YHL