We’re about to get into the grips of winter now and there’s little arguing that it’s going to be a bit more difficult to get motivated to train. The feel and call of your warm home is often more enticing than a challenging workout! Training along with good nutrition are evermore important in winter, so here are some guidelines to keep you training and healthy through winter.
Motivation is Internal
Your coaches and classmates, and the general environment of the gym, are motivating. However, you’ve got to get yourself there first, and that’s all on you! There are some things you can do to keep your levels of motivation up.
- Set mini, tangible goals for every week. For example, ” I am going to: Train on three days; Work on my skipping after each class; Get to the gym 10 minutes early to warm-up on the rower; Eat clean at 90% of my meals.” You get the idea.
- If you haven’t already (I don’t know how this is possible), get to know at least one person who trains at the same time. Become accountability buddies and set each other penalties for not showing up.
- Suck it up. If you really care about your health and fitness, turning up to training isn’t hard.
Wear the Correct Clothing
- Base layers are essential in winter. They keep you warm but are breathable. Thanks to the bigger market now, you can find lots of cost effective base layers. Get the tops and bottoms. Guys if you are wearing tights, wear shorts over them!
- Keep your hoodies/sweaters and long pants on during the warm-ups and skill work, and back on during the cool-downs.
- Keep your warmer outer layers on during strength sessions to stay warm during all the rest time.
Eat Well
- There’s a reason we run a Winter Challenge every year – you are more likely to make poor food choices in winter. Your dietary habits will affect your immunology, and given that the immune system is a bit weaker, you need to fuel yourself properly.
- Get your Omega-3 fish oils in. Not only do they help your immune system, but they keep the joints healthy too.
- Don’t rely only on caffeinated drinks to get your fluid in.
Show Up
As noted above, you’re ultimately responsible for getting yourself here. Put your training time down as a meeting in you diary and don’t miss it. Don’t cherry pick either. Although we’re doing it less, there will still be running and other work outside. If you get sick in winter it’s because you’re eating crap and not training enough, not because we’re running on the one day you do decide to turn up.
Is it going to be more challenging? Absolutely. But you signed up for this knowing well that it’s not Zumba, that it would be difficult. It gets results, though, and it will be a great feeling when you get to the start of spring knowing that your summer body is good to go 😉
We’ve always had a good tradition of busy classes in winter. It has a lot to do with having to train half outside for two winters before moving to the current facilities. So let’s keep it that way this year too, but do it smartly!
