How To Stay Healthy And Fit During Winter 2022

As the weather gets colder and the days start to draw in, it can get more and more difficult to stay motivated to exercise. Suddenly a warm sofa can seem a lot more appealing than a run around the block! However, maintaining regular exercise will help you beat the winter blues whilst ensuring you stay healthy and able to fight off cold and flu bugs. If you’re struggling to find your motivation this year, the following tips on how to stay healthy and fit during winter might just help you out!

Schedule In Exercise Time

Writing down your exercise plan for each week in a diary or calendar, makes you far more likely to follow through with it, and ensure that you make the time for exercise. This is particularly important if you’ve got a really busy week ahead of you, as we all know how easy it is for other priorities to take hold. One of the biggest challenges of staying fit in winter is the reduced hours of daylight as this gives you less time to exercise outdoors whilst it's still light. That’s why a really good tip for how to stay healthy and fit during winter is doing a workout in your lunch break. This means that you don’t need to worry about squeezing in exercise before or after work when it’s cold and dark and your energy levels are lacking.

Set Goals

One of the most simple yet effective tips for how to stay healthy and fit during winter is setting goals. Be clear on what you want to achieve over the next few months, giving you a reason to get out of bed when it's cold and dark outside. You could set small week by week goals, such as setting a target distance you’d like to run, or set more long term goals. Winter is a great time to book yourself into events, such as cycles or runs, as this gives you a goal to work towards. Giving yourself a challenge to work towards, small or large, can really help to boost both physical and mental health during the winter months. 

Find A Fitness Buddy

If you’ve made plans to workout with a friend, you’re far less likely to cancel at the last minute! Finding a buddy to exercise with regularly can be really useful for helping you to stay motivated and keep each other positive. It also makes your workout a whole lot more enjoyable. Combining your fitness and social time is a great way to incorporate exercise into a busy schedule, and can be as simple as swapping a coffee for a gentle jog. You could also consider joining classes and groups, such as a running club in order to meet like minded people and make your fitness schedule more social.