How to stay motivated to work out during the winter?

Days growing shorter, colder and gloomier – sounds like a perfect excuse for easing into your own personal lockdown. Your motivation slowly descends after seeing stream of cozy, blanket & candle social media feed or running into festive displays at local shops. Malaise and infections resulting from giving up sports is lurking everywhere. Winter training is a real challenge for many. Nothing unusual. Low temperatures, wind and ubiquitous smog can effectively remove the motivation to exercise. How to deal with winter lack of motivation and keep both – your body and mind on the right track? The best solution is simply to get up from the couch despite your extreme reluctance and start exercising.

What benefits of winter activities are waiting for you?

1. Improving memory and concentration, especially useful in the winter months. The best way to start your day is a fast-paced walk to work, despite not always favorable weather. It wakes up the brain and allows more effective functioning during the working day.
2. Regular exercises perfectly strengthens the immune system, which makes it easier to fight off winter infections. Physical activity raises blood pressure and increases blood circulation, which helps to prevent infections. Regular, everyday workouts can help you to stay away from winter colds.
3. You will burn more calories

Low temperature training makes it difficult to regulate body temperature. Our body consists of four body fat types. Some, such as white fat are very dangerous, while others burn bad fat. For example, brown fat, which is metabolic and has the “power” to burn white fat. Scientists have found evidence to suggest that training in winter temperatures can turn this troublesome white body fat into brown one.

4. Your heart will thank you

Cold weather workout challenges your heart. It must work harder to get blood to all your muscles. If you have no medical contraindications, regular cardio training will make your heart stronger, and you will boost your energy levels

5. Improve your well-being

Do you like walking in the park in fresh snow on crisp and chilly days? It is a very refreshing experience that is fun and relieves stress. Training outdoors, especially on sunny winter days, can help to keep your endorphins level high. It also helps to avoid SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). It is a type of depression associated with too small amount of sunlight during the fall / winter months. As your body heats up, endorphin levels rise.

Remember about the right prep!

Masterful warm-ups

Cool days are a test of your skills, especially those related to preparation for training. A properly performed warm-up will not only save you from injuries, but also make you more agile and faster. Make a few jumping jacks or run in-place and your heart will right away start pumping blood to your muscles.

If we’ve encouraged you to train outside on cold days, then here are some important tips:

• Stay hydrated. Remember that even when training in cold weather, your body sweats and loses water. Drink before and after training.
• Layers. Wear layers. The first one, the one closest to the body, should be made of a material that will transport excess moisture away. The next layer is an insulating, warming layer (merino wool is better than cotton). The last layer is protection against wind and rain.
• Cover sensitive areas – a beanie or a headband paired with gloves are perfect choice. If it’s very cold, you can also cover your face. Remember to use the right creams.

Day to day motivation.

When looking for the right motivation for you, try to find easy solutions, accessible at hand or somehow connected with your passion and dreams.

Reward yourself – Agree that if you manage to stay in shape during the winter months, you’ll make it up to yourself. However, choose rewards that will not harm your health. Sweet snacks or fast food are a bad idea. For example, the reward may be a holiday trip or new exercise equipment.

Monitor your progress – did you manage to complete the training for advanced people? Or maybe you lost a few centimeters in the waist? Write it down to monitor your progress. It is much easier to find motivation for the next training, if you can see the real effects of the effort.

Set new goals – thanks to this, you will not get bored, and keeping in shape will be a much easier task. Striving for new goals is a lot of fun and achieving them is a great motivation and a chance for the best results.

… and how about a personal trainer?

Research shows that as many as 80% of people who signed up for the gym in January ended their training after about six months. The same study showed that almost 35% of people suffered injury gained through wrongful use of gym equipment. Maybe the right solution for you is to use a personal trainer service? Personal trainer helps you stay motivated – whether your training goals are related to sports, weight, or the pursuit of wellness, individual interaction with a qualified, personal trainer will help you stick to them. The trainer’s job is to motivate you in a way that you wouldn’t be able to do alone and adapt your training plan to your needs and preferences. Additionally, exercising with someone who has specialist knowledge of how to exercise and use equipment will significantly reduce the risk of injury. An injury can leave you out of your training routine for months – countless people hurt themselves by exercising incorrectly, affecting their health and fitness. Last but not least, personal trainer can offer a nutritional know-how. A proper nutrition remains an essential part of the change that your training plan should lead to. Regardless of whether it is in terms

A common myth is that personal trainers are strict and squeeze the last juices from their charges. Yet, Inside Out is not an army and a fitness club is not a training ground. When you work with a Personal Trainer at Inside Out you are partners. Your mentor will always choose the right words to motivate you and develop a suitable training plan to help you overcome your limitations. We will select the perfect exercise partner for you, with similar interests and goals to yours. Therefore, if you love dancing and yoga, don’t worry, we won’t let you go to bodybuilder training. We all have our own training style. Our personal trainers are not only qualified, but also friendly, open-minded and genuine. They know what will work and what can put you off. You may have to lose 10 kg, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be running on a treadmill for 50 minutes if you’re not enjoying it. Instead, they will come up with a training plan focused on action more suited to your personality and condition.

Together with your Inside Out personal trainer, you will achieve your goals that were your dream, but have not yet been achieved on your own. Join us, meet the team and choose the right path to health and fitness for you!