Does the prospect of wearing scarves, parkas and extra layers of clothing put a damper on your enthusiasm to hit the gym? These tips from holistic fitness expert Eva Pelegrin, founder of Attune Holistic Fitness in New York City, can help you winterize your workouts by tweaking your daily routine to keep your body, mind and spirit in harmony, no matter what the outside thermometer says:
It’s winter cold and you don’t feel like going to the gym--don’t. Stay indoors and move it. The best gym
equipment you can ever have is your own body, so the main thing you need is willpower and imagination. Start trucking up the staircase! Walk one or two flights and alternately run one or two flights, pushing off mid-foot to help work your butt. Walk down fast, then repeat. You will be amazed how the real thing is so not like a Stairmaster.
If you only do one exercise, here’s one that will give you a total body workout anywhere. Start with a jug filled with water or other harmless liquid. Stand in a clear space with your feet shoulder width apart and place the jug close to your left foot behind your toe line. Keep your feet planted, hips square and back as straight as possible. Squat down and reach left to pick up the jug with both hands and quickly lift it up and across, as if to toss it on a six foot high shelf that is behind your right shoulder.
You should be rotating your torso and hips to the right. Immediately reverse the movement to lower the jug exactly where it was. Once you get the motion down, repeat as fast as you can for 10-15 reps. More reps can make this one a killer cardio workout. Switch sides with the jug and repeat for three sets. You can also use a backpack or other bag and adjust the weight to your ability.
Diversify your portfolio of protein and fat
Spread your protein and fat consumption throughout the day. Meals that contain more healthy fat and protein than carbohydrates keep your amino-acid levels high to enhance mental an emotional wellbeing, and promote stable blood sugar and higher energy levels. This not only makes you feel better, but also facilitates fat burning and appetite control. Conversely, high-carb diets combined with a lack of exercise can result in a gloomy mood, or even depression.
Rest assured
Stay away from sugar, alcohol and caffeine within six hours of bedtime. Getting sleep and getting rest are not the same, and any of these can interfere with a truly restful night’s sleep. Over time, such rest deprivation amplifies the impact of stress and can raise levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol; alter thyroid hormones; and decrease your output of human growth hormone and testosterone. These hormones directly affect your ability to gain or maintain your precious muscle tone, a healthy sex life, and deal with the many trials of life.
Stand up for yourself
Poor posture is a self-fulfilling prophecy of gloom. Research shows that the way we carry ourselves reflects our general level of health. Since the two are interconnected, you can improve your organs health, including your confidence, simply by improving your posture. So, practice carrying yourself erect, but relaxed – with the bearing of someone walking down the grand staircase in the movie Titanic.
Expose yourself
Plan ahead in order to get moderate and regular sun exposure, especially during the winter months when any sun is better than none. Moods tend to descend with temperature and daylight duration. Sunlight elevates both mood and sex drive by boosting testosterone and serotonin production. The sun also radiates ultraviolet and infrared waves which have been shown to enhance mood and contribute to your general well-being (light bulbs do not). Sunlight deficiency, on the other hand, can lower serotonin levels enough to bring on depressive symptoms.
--Eva Pelegrin is a Fellow of Applied Functional Science, and Founder of Attune Holistic Fitness in New York City.
Hi Eva- thanks for this, I am gonna use the water jug workout im not in a gym right now so that helps
Posted by: Becks | 12/04/2010 at 01:52 PM
Hi Beck,
If you find the water jug too light, use something heavier: heavy bag, suitcase, box, whatever is available:-)
Posted by: Eva | 12/12/2010 at 05:18 PM
I never thought about light exposure but what if you live in a cold place? it gets dark so early where I live not much sun in the winter... great article!
Posted by: Josh | 12/13/2010 at 11:32 AM
Thanks to Eva Pelegrin for making a new idea and tips for healthy gym.http://www.vivamagonline.com/index.php Im gonna follow your tips and it was very interesting blog. Well done article. Have a happy day...
Posted by: Fitness workouts | 12/31/2010 at 04:31 AM
Wow working out indoors for winter is heaven rather than hitting the gym in this weather.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds8xyK-r65M I'll workout with the stairs and the fat and protein consumption also seems like a great idea.
Posted by: Exercise | 01/10/2011 at 01:45 AM
Hello Eva, Your post is looking fantastic. I think exercise is very hard. But it is very effective on all the parts of our abdominal area.
Posted by: Athletic tape | 03/26/2011 at 03:26 AM
Workout is necessary for the body fitness and maintained our body for that you have apply appropriate methods. Your tips for workout is really nice.
Posted by: DecaDurabolin | 06/12/2011 at 11:54 PM
Every body wants healthy life so for that we have to implement proper habit to live our life and improves our eating habit so we can become fit and healthy.
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In this post you have discussed about the workout plans and how to improves our fitness level. It is really a commendable post i appreciates your tips.
Posted by: seo companies | 07/12/2011 at 11:22 PM
all you said is absolutely right. especially about sun exposure. not many people know that moderate exposure to the sun stimulates production of a vitamin D in your body. and you can't really get it from food (I don't believe that vitamin D can be fully consumed from milk).
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I never thought of light exposure, but what if you live in a cool place? It gets dark so early so I live not much sun in the winter ... Great article
Posted by: spill cleanup kits | 12/04/2011 at 11:38 PM
Hello Eva, Your post is looking fantastic. I think exercise is very hard. But it is very effective on all the parts of our abdominal area.
Posted by: HGH | 04/09/2012 at 03:54 AM
Workout exercise is pretty useful for your whole body. It looks pretty interesting, but I know it is really hard. Thanks for sharing this post. Great tips!
Posted by: male improvement dysfunction | 05/17/2012 at 03:30 AM
what branch in the miliatry ae you talking about?in the army it is 2 mins pushups, 2 mins sit ups, 2 mile run and you are going to have like rest periods in between.
Posted by: Pedro | 05/29/2012 at 06:31 AM
This is a no-brainer easy question to answer!
! Let time make it happen!! Eat healthy foods. Do not skip meals.
Take vitamin and mineral supplements if need be and let time "MAKE" you grow up!!
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