Winter is a favorite time of year for many myself included yet can be hard on people who are building their fitness habits. The weather here where I live has drastically been changing recently. In the Pacific Northwest winter is a time for a lot of rain so running outside is not always possible for me. This has led me to sit and brainstorm ideas that will allow me to keep the habit going so that when the weather does allow, I am ready and rearing to put the time in to do the run/walk on the road. Some of the things that I came up with are things that I have done before but fallen out of habit in doing others are things you might think of first but due to circumstances won’t work for me. The last group is things I have not tried but am considering to help with the habit. I am also taking cost into consideration as that is a factor in some of this for me as well as space in my home. I am not someone who has a tone of space, but I also don’t live in a shoebox situation. The same can be said about money to put toward something I am not known for following through on.
Before any of that, I must be honest the change in weather and temperature is already putting the idea of slacking off in my head. It is harder even on nice days to get the mojo up to get changed to go outside. I talk about how I am working on that in another blog post though. I don’t know where you live but in winter there is a lot of wind and very cold rain. That is not fun to do anything let alone work on a fitness habit like running. Having a treadmill would be a helpful way to keep running at home during the bad weather or having a gym membership and using a treadmill there. I do not personally own a treadmill and must admit that I currently do not have the space to put one in. On the other hand, I am a member of a local gym, and I could start going after I get off work. I will have to think about it though because I am just beginning to work out getting everything done and finding a balance, which would change things again and throw me off.
A lot of people solve the problem of running in winter by just using a treadmill. There are those who will run in the snow and without a treadmill. I know people who do both but running in the snow just doesn’t appeal to me with trying to keep myself healthy. The price of treadmills even just a basic one can get pricey if you are on a tight budget. Thus, why the idea of a gym where I am not responsible for buying or maintaining it is so appealing. I am not the best at treadmill running though and have always found it easier to run on the road. Maybe that is an excellent reason to tat a gym, to give me the challenge that has proven very difficult in the past. It is not one that I will be trying soon though for scheduling reasons. So for the time being I will have to come up with a plan c as plan b with being in the gym for a while. The idea of a treadmill is a very tempting and promising one. Does anyone else ever wish they had a home gym sometimes? It would make coming up with excuses that much harder or unbelievable.
Fitness programs are something that I am very much considering. There are a lot out there from lots of different companies. A couple that I have heard of though never tried myself is Beach body, and the other is Insanity. Though the guy who developed the Insanity program I think works for Beach Body now. These are programs though that cost money and it often feels like to be successful with the program you must shell out a lot of money for everything. I am not made of money so that has always turned me off from trying them. Some others that I have heard of but never investigated are Ballet Beautiful, the literal only thing I know about this program is Natalie Portman worked with the developer of this program when training for a movie. Then there are the apps and all you have to do is put exercise or the type of workout that you want to do into the search bar and watch all the options come up. In these instances, to get access to what you want, you will more than likely end up with a recurring Payment. Heck, Chris Hemsworth got in on this.
One thing that I do like to use is free workout programs on YouTube. I know during the beginning of covid when everything was closed suddenly, a lot of people turned to YouTube to get workouts without forking out a lot of money for special programs. There is a wide and diverse amount on YouTube to choose from, but you do have to know what to search or you may end up with someone just filming themselves doing a workout. I have made that mistake before and though I tried to just follow the person on the screen even though it was not the fitness instructor, I will admit I got discouraged and stopped very quickly. The ones I have found on YouTube that I like the best are yoga and some Ballet for beginners. These worked for me, but they may not work for everyone. There are some others that I very much enjoy and do as well, but I cannot recall their name of them at the moment. The key thing in all of this that I have realized I need to do is make sure I am doing beginner or low impact. This is because I am owning how out of shape and unused to working out and know that it is my starting point and I have not moved far past that.
A combination of these things is probably going to be the best bet though because life gets in the way and that will keep it interesting. In past attempts at exercising, I have often favored a combination of YouTube videos or the gym and YouTube. I also know that I have talked on here about doing a combination of run walks and YouTube videos. I do not think there is a magic combination as not everything has worked for me every time. It has more been what am I feeling and then trial and error from there. Due to covid and other viruses going around, I must admit I have been hesitant to go back to a public gym. But I may try it if I work up the courage. People’s sweat is nasty many, and people are bad about whipping off equipment.
I have found that it is completely okay and normal to try something and find not only did it not work but it was not for you. I have been or tried to be very open about this on here and of course, will continue to be. Cardio in general is not easy for me, I must put in a lot of conscious effort and often time need outside help to stay on it. Like a class or something, oh that is not a bad idea. I will have to investigate classes in my area. But even if you shell out money and find that thing is not for you talk to the instructor. They don’t want you to stop your fitness journey but they do understand that not every type of exercise is for everyone so they may be able to offer some advice. I know there are some types of fitness classes I will stay away from because they are not for me, and others that I am interested in joining or trying out.
The off months where you live can create havoc in a fitness routine no matter if you are a novice like me or an Olympic athlete. Having the tools in place to keep yourself successful and accountable is important. Knowing what is right for you and the right level you should be working at. For example, I am not advanced so the things I do are more for people just starting out. But also, not giving up and being willing to try some of the things I came up with during this brainstorming session. Let’s be real that is what it is and hopefully, it is going to help me further my goal. I think it will because the main thing is that I keep going and putting the effort into my cardio to see success.
Lemons or Lemonade 