7 Reasons Why Winter Workouts Are Important for You ...

The most obvious reason winter workouts are more important is the abundance of holidays between the middle of November and the first of January. With all of those major holidays and the pre-celebrating and the post-celebrating, it is easy to pack on the pounds. There are treats everywhere at this time of year and it is all too easy to indulge. There is literally food everywhere you turn. Making an extra effort to get your workout in can help to prevent winter weight gain.

The winter blues happen to a lot of people. There are some very scientific explanations for why we feel this way but the easiest explanation is that we miss the warmth and sunshine. Cold dreary and gray days do not cultivate a happy attitude in most people. Working out can help you to beat the winter blues. Exercising releases endorphins which make you feel happy.

There is a tendency that most of us feel to just huddle in and hibernate in the winter. I know that I feel that way. There is nothing that makes me happier than a day at home with a big pot of soup simmering on the stove. But hibernation is not good for the waistline. This means it is extra important to get your workout in during the winter months.

It is so much easier to make up an excuse to not work out in the winter time. I know it is for me. Working out feels like a summertime activity but it really needs to be something that we do all year round. When you feel yourself trying to come up with a reason to get out of your workout, it is best to go ahead and lace up your running shoes and get going. Chances are, once you start, you won’t want to stop.

Sometimes there are things that come up in the winter that prevent you from working out or at least make it more difficult. Perhaps it is that you cannot get to the gym because of the weather, or maybe they are closed for holidays. That makes it even more important to work out when you can. If you cannot get your regular workout in, don’t give up. Get creative and find a new way to get your workout in. It would be a good idea to stash a few workout DVDs back for the days you can’t get to the gym for whatever reason.

Winter is when cold and flu season strikes. One of the things that helps you fight off those germs is regular exercise. It is a natural immunity booster. This should be motivation for those days that you really don’t want to crawl out of your pjs and slippers to push on anyway. The pay-off can definitely be worth the effort.

We tend to get lax in the winter about keeping our bodies in the shape we want them to be. We tend to think that we are all covered up in thick sweaters and boots anyway so a few extra pounds don’t really matter. We feel comfortable hiding under our clothing. But summer, and bikini season, will come again. And it is much easier to maintain a good figure than try to recover one.

It is more difficult to keep up our motivation when it is cold and dreary outside. Do you find it easier to slack off in the winter? What do you do to keep up your motivation to work out when the temperature drops?