6 tips to keep you motivated in winter

Have the winter blues got you feeling unmotivated?

Winter is almost here and when it’s cold it can be hard to stay motivated about your fitness. We tend to take on a “snuggle up” mentality meaning we eat more and do less – human hibernation!

Regularly exercising during the colder months helps to create the body we feel more confident in during the warmer months. It also regulates our intake of fresh air when we don’t look forward to leaving the house and keeps our heavy food cravings at bay.

Here are our top 6 tips to stay motivated  when the temperature drops:

1. The sunshine vitamin keeps you healthy, strong and happy.

There’s a reason it’s called the sunshine vitamin. While there are a limited number of foods that can provide your body with vitamin D, the easiest source is from exposure of bare skin to sunlight.

Sunshine makes strong bones and muscles, looks after your skin and keeps your immune system strong. It can also boost positivity and help you feel happier!

2. Get your blood flowing and keep warm

Save electricity  by heating your body up naturally with a workout. The rise in your body temperature, during a workout, has a soothing, calming effect on your body, not unlike a long soak in a warm bath or lying in front of the heater.

3. Maintain your health during flu season

Regular exercise strengthens your immune system so it can fight off the flu. When you exercise and get your blood pumping, immune cells circulate through your body more quickly helping them seek and destroy infections. But this boost only lasts for a few hours, so exercise needs to be regular for long-term effects.

4. Beat the winter blues

A daily workout releases feel-good, de-stress brain chemicals giving you a break from the daily grind and helps ease depression. We know that after exercise, the brain releases the “feel-good” chemicals serotonin and dopamine, which can help to reduce anxiety and depression while boosting wellbeing. 45 minutes a the day could change your whole outlook on winter!

5. Take a deep breath

Being cooped up with nothing but heaters to keep the air moving means fresh air is much harder to come by in winter. Try going for a walk or run outside to give your lungs a chance to detox and breathe deeply without concern for breathing in other people’s bugs.

6. Avoid winter weight gain

In the colder months it is so easy to turn to comfort food, because it’s so satisfying and it makes us feel good, well for a little anyway. This is why winter is typically known as the ‘weight gain’ period as the average person puts on up to 4 kg across these months. To stabilise your weight go back to healthy habits with regular exercise and healthy meal substitutes, to combat the excess sugar and calories we may consume.

We will still eb running our outdoor camps throughout these colder months, with friendly trainers to help keep you motivated!

If you can’t make it to the park or prefer to workout indoors when the weather is dull, we have a range of workout videos you can do from the comfort of your own home here.

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