We have reached the final post of our Healthy Winter series. We've touched on reasons to exercise for our mental and physical #wellbeing in our previous posts, so now it's time to put it all together. As many of us know, this is easier said than done! Winter comes with some poor weather, the lure of warm food and the lack of motivation to leave the comforts of our home. So how do we stay active during the cold season?
Prepare well for the weather
Make sure that you bring a jacket and comfortable clothes when exercising. The best way to do this is to pack clothing the night before so that it is easier to access (and harder to avoid!) when getting up in the morning. It is also important to keep bringing water to stay hydrated during workouts.
Change your training and your daily habits
If you are finding it difficult to set aside a block of time to do exercises or a designated workout, incidental exercise can an effective way to increase your activity during the winter time. Incidental exercise is any activity you build up over the day – whether that be going up and down stairs to get in and out of the house, cleaning or even gardening. Try to add little bouts of incidental exercise into your daily routine to maintain the 60mins of daily activity recommended by the Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines. Some suggestions to boost your incidental activity include:
· Walk up stairs instead of using the elevator/lift
· Go up and down the stairs an extra lap at home
· Walk around the house during an ad break on the television
Track your progress:
A sheet or checklist of your daily exercise to track how much you do weekly can be a great motivator by making you accountable of the activity you do each day. A pedometer or smart watch can also be useful as most brands track steps, heart rate and detect activity.
Join a group class:
A group class is great for a number of reasons. Firstly, you are guided by an instructor who will make sure that you stay active throughout the class, and secondly you are surrounded by like-minded people who are also interested in keeping active. Exercising with a group of people challenges you to work harder to match the other participants. Not to mention that group classes provide you with great opportunities to engage with people of similar ages and backgrounds to keep you coming back to each class.
NAP run exercise classes each week, which you can view in our timetable here.
Additionally, we run 8 week wellness programs every year for clients looking to improve their physical and mental wellbeing in a guided group setting. We are almost finished our Winter Wellness fitness program for 2019, so if you are interested in our next challenge, keep an eye out on our website for our next registration. If you would like to know more about our wellness programs, read more here.