During the cold Winter months it can be difficult to get to the gym, go for a run or participate in outdoor fitness activities if it's raining. This can lead to weight gain, and you will become sluggish and stiff.
Instead of making excuses and letting yourself go. Set the intention to work out -- rain or shine!
There are work-outs one can do in your home, office or hotel room. All you need is comfortable clothing and good pair of work-out shoes.
It's always a good idea to warm up and ease in to prepare the body to increase range of motion and avoid injuries.
After, for cardio one can do various jumping drills such as squat jumps, side to side, front to back, one legs hops, jump rope ( if no rope, pretend there's one in your hands) , jumping jacks, running in place, dance, martial art kicks and punches, whatever you enjoy doing. Watch the clock and do a minute of one, then switch to another each minute to avoid boredom and to work a wide range of muscles. If you can't go for long start from wherever you are, rest and do another set.
If you are creative make up your own mixture of drills. if not, set a goal to do 200 jumping jacks non-stop, or 50 swat jumps
For conditioning-squats, lunges and leg lifts work great. If you are not familiar with how to do these, there are plenty of DVD's to follow along with, Instant downloads and websites with free tips and work-outs such as www.ehow.com. If you Google free online workouts you'll see plenty of options.
Ankle weights are also a effective way to get in some resistance training at home. I use my kitchen counter as a ballet bar and slowly work my kung fu kicks up and down with 10 LB ankle weights. You may purchase a lighter ankle weight or get the one that has the bars you may take out to adjust weight.
For upper body, free weights or push ups are effective exercises, especially if you hold your hands out wide, then in close.
For the more advanced, handstands against the wall and back bends are a good way to mix it up.
Finish with abdominal work. Be sure to work the lower abs, the oblique's and then upper with crunches.
Always end with stretches to cool down. It is a good time to do deeper, more advanced stretches than in the initial warm-up because by now the body is warm and relaxed.
This is a great way to stay in shape, feel good and when you go back to the gym or favorite sport you can come back stronger, bad weather or not.