Use Your Horizon Fitness Equipment to Keep your Winter
Workouts Strong
By Joli Guenther, MSSW, NASM
Finding yourself wondering how to stay motivated this
winter? We all know the challenges that
make it easy to get derailed…shorter days, busy holiday schedules and colder
weather make cuddling up on the couch so much more tempting than that evening
run you told yourself you'd stick to. By
adding home fitness equipment to your arsenal, you've already found a way to
beat the weather and work with your schedule.
Try adding a few of these motivational tricks to your winter routine, and
you'll find yourself ahead of the pack this spring.
Play the mind game.
Working out makes you feel like…working out. Succeeding at sticking to your workouts is
its own motivating factor. We all want
to be that committed exerciser, keeping our workouts strong year round. Use this to your advantage the next time you
feel like skipping your workout. Think
about the self satisfied feeling you'll have while wrapping presents or baking
cookies after your morning run. Consider
how much more enjoyable that Christmas dinner will be when you aren't feeling
guilty about letting yourself go over the holidays. Schedule your workouts and look ahead to
where you'll be at the end of the winter.
One more way to win the mind game?
Whenever possible, schedule your workouts for the morning. Morning exercisers are the most likely to
stick with their workouts over time.
When your workout is the first thing on your plate in the morning, it's
harder for other things to get in the way.
Head for the Light. Even
if it's temporary, move your fitness equipment in front of a window to take
advantage of daylight during your morning workouts. Exercising in daylight during the shorter
days of winter lifts our moods (and our motivation). Again, if possible, schedule your workout for
the morning so you can take advantage of the mood lifter before you head into
your day.
Dress the part. New
clothes and gear make us feel good, or at least guilty if we don't use
them. If you haven't already put new
workout clothes or a fitness related treat (perhaps a heart rate monitor?) on
your Christmas list, now's the time to add them. If your loved ones don't take the hint, take
advantage of the post Christmas sales to treat yourself after the
holidays.
Keep it Entertaining. Nothing
on TV? Many models of fitness equipment
integrate a docking station for your iPod, making it easy to download audio
books to keep your mind busy during your workouts. You can also access audio books for free from
most libraries, giving you a low cost option to keep the winter blahs out of
your workouts. Several of Horizon’s treadmills, ellipticals and bikes are either
iPod/MP3 compatible or even Made for iPod®, allowing you to dock, charge and
control your iPod directly from the console.
Get outside. Even during
the coldest months, there are usually a few nice days (believe me, I live in Wisconsin!). Keep your workouts flexible enough to take
advantage of a mild Saturday to head out for a winter run or snow shoeing. Enjoying the beauty of winter can make the
season seem less oppressive and even (gasp!) enjoyable. Find an excuse to complement your day to day
fitness routine with a chance to hit the great outdoors.
Weigh in! How do you keep
yourself motivated during the coldest, darkest weeks of the year?