7 Workouts You Can do in the Snow ...

While you’re swooshing down the slopes, the last thought on your mind is how many calories you’re burning. The truth is, you’re torching hundreds! If you’ve never thought of skiing as a workout, you’re in for a surprise. In fact, skiing is one of the best workouts you can do in the snow. It works your legs, abs and arms while also getting your heart rate going, which is how you know you’re scorching mega calories and toning your muscles at the same time. Now if I only I could figure out how to stay upright.

You might look funny and fall on your face a couple of times, but balancing on snowshoes while trekking through the snow is a great way to fit in a workout and have fun at the same time. You can burn hundreds of calories in just an hour, while also working the muscles in your legs, butt and core. If you use poles for balance, you can also work your arms and chest. What more could you ask for?

Next time your kids beg to you to go ice skating with them, strap on skates and get to it. Moving your legs back and forth is a fun way to burn calories and tone your thighs and calves at the same time. If you’re like me, trying not topple over is great for the abs because they’re activated any time you try to balance. You can burn over a thousand calories in one hour, as long as you spend more time moving and not too much time on your behind on the ice.

No, you don’t have to worry about missing teeth and broken bones. Chances are, you won’t be playing too fierce an opponent. Many cities have adult hockey leagues that allow you to fit in a workout several times each week. Many practice indoors, but some take you right outside among the flakes and drifts. If you have no experience, this might not the choice for you, but you might consider taking private lessons for a winter, then joining a league the following year.

It’s imperative to take proper safety measures, but snowmobiling is a great snow workout. You’ll need your arms and legs to steer and guide the snowmobile and any time you dump it and have to trudge through the snow and right your equipment, you’re burning calories and activating your muscles. Plus, it’s tons of fun!

Maybe you stand on the top of the hill and watch your kids sled down. It looks like fun though, right? Steering the sled and pulling to back up the hill multiple times is a great way to burn calories and work your entire body! So next time, make your kids let you have a turn. You’ll scorch some fat and work your arms, legs, core, chest and back, all while listening to the wonderful sounds of your children’s joy and laughter. For a little while, the snowy winter won’t seem too bleak!

It’s not all that fun, but you have to do it anyway. Here’s some good news for you – you can count shoveling snow as a workout. Think about it. Your arms are probably burning by the time you’re done and you’re likely to work up a sweat too. That means you’re torching calories and toning your muscles at the same time. Try to remind yourself of this next time you’ve been shoveling for half an hour and you’ve only cleared half the driveway.

Winter isn’t my favorite season, but having plenty of fun ways to fit in a workout and hang out with my kids makes it easier. What’s your favorite way to exercise when it’s cold outside?