Winter cardio you can do to be active and feel great. How can you keep active in subzero temperatures?
Where I live, Rochester, NY, the temperatures often dip below zero. The weather makes being outside quite difficult. Since I love being outside, oppressive winters like this one are tough for me to enjoy.
What do I do to stay active and feel great doing it? Continue reading for my simple ideas to help you through this brutal winter weather.
As I mentioned, I love the outdoors. However, you have to be exceptionally prepared for negative temperatures. Buy winter gear! You need to keep your skin as unexposed as possible with the proper clothing coverage.
List of winter gear
- Winter Hat
- Ski Gloves or Mittens
- A scarf or face guard that covers your nose and mouth
- Insulated winter jacket
- Ski/Snow pants
- Snow boots with traction (I have ankle height hikers to keep high snow away from my ankles)
- Athletic wear underneath winter attire (Believe me you will sweat)
- Warm socks
With climate appropriate clothing, go out for a short walk. I usually stay in my neighborhood. Living in the city of Rochester, I find that they are laid back on snow removal which presents an even more significant challenge when walking outside. Walking through the high snow always gets my heart rate up. Walking up the street, back and to work, is enough exercise for me. I can’t stay out very long because my hands become too cold.
If you are not a fan of venturing outside layered or bundled, get on a treadmill or another type of cardiovascular machine that fits your needs. I prefer the treadmill because I can do many activities on it.
Exercises to try on the treadmill
- Walking on incline and decline
- Running on incline and decline
*Use Incline and decline to simulate the up and downhill
- Skipping
- Leaping
- Side Steps
- Walking backward
*When skipping, walking backward, sidestepping and leaping you MUST GO AT A VERY LOW SPEED say 1.0
If you are not a fan of treadmills, then find an indoor track. I prefer running on an indoor track versus running on a treadmill.
During the winter months, it is especially important to find a source of cardiovascular activities to strengthen your heart while burning calories. Please make sure: if you go outside, you dress for the weather. Also, keep it interesting and change it up during the week.
