By: Ben Lucas
Owner of Sydney’s premier luxe fitness and yoga studio Flow Athletic
Winter can definitely be a time where people start to lose motivation when it comes to their health and fitness. After all, it’s dark and cold out, so spending time on the couch with your heater, a glass of wine and cheese platter may seem like a more comforting option.
The only problem is, overindulging and skipping your exercise will often leave you feeling tired, so you won’t feel as good throughout the day, you may feel bloated, start to put on weight and then come spring, you will have a lot of work to do!
They say that summer bodies are made in winter, so with that in mind, here are my top tips for keeping on top of your health this winter.
LIMIT THE CAFFEINE INTAKE
When its cold and dark, many of us reach for the warm, caffeinated drinks for comfort, however be careful to limit your coffee and caffeinated tea intake as they are inflammatory and may leave you feeling worse. Furthermore, if you have them too late in the day they may affect your sleep.
Switch to hot water and lemon, dandelion tea or another tea that is caffeine free. These options are great for your metabolism and digestion so they should keep you energised without giving you the ‘coffee shakes’.
LACKING MOTIVATION TO TRAIN? SIGN UP TO AN EVENT OR TRY A NEW CLASS
I often suggest to my clients sign up to an event, such as a running event or obstacle course in winter because many of the main events in Australia are on between August- October.
As most coaches will tell you to prepare 3 months in advance, it means that you have something to train for during the cooler months.
Try to get a friend involved so you have someone else to encourage you, or you may even want to consider signing up to a running group. There are so many around and every person is turning up for the same reason as you, it will only be a matter of time before you make friends.
If you are not a runner and you are lacking in motivation, then find a gym near your home or near your work that offers interesting classes. Even if you just sign up for a month or two, having a change of scenery, new instructors and new classes is a great way to get you excited about exercise again.
GET OUTDOORS
I am sure that at some point in your life you would have heard someone complain about getting SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in winter, but SAD is actually not related to the cold, it’s related to the light.
Get outside for some morning or lunchtime exercise as it could definitely brighten your mood and change the whole outlook on your day.
KEEP REGULAR SLEEPING HOURS
In summer its generally light when most people wake up, however sadly this is not the case for winter which can make morning exercise challenging for some.
I would suggest keeping the same sleep/ wake schedule during the colder months to help keep you on track and let you body start to recognize the time that you need to rise.
After a week hopefully you will no longer be dragging yourself out of bed in the morning. The idea is that your body will know that now is the time, and you will jump out of bed with loads of energy to get one with your day.
