Thanksgiving is over. You’re still sporting a food baby of turkey, dressing and all sorts of delicious foods. Outside It’s cold. It’s rainy. You just want to stay home and nap. So there’s no better time to crank out some cardio.
There are plenty of great options for doing cardio indoors (where it’s not freezing and raining). You don’t even need equipment, though if you have some, that’s great! From fat burning to cardio-improving to muscle building, there’s an option for every exercise journey.
Body weight exercises
Body weight exercises are the tried and true methods of working out. People have been using body weight exercises since Ancient Greece. Back in those days, it was mostly exercises mimicking combat and sports, but the idea of using just body weight and the environment was the same as today. Instead of practicing throwing spears and swinging swords, modern body weight exercises are more about getting the heart rate up in a limited space. Some great, general exercises include jumping jacks and jogging in place. More advanced, high-intensity exercises include burpees and mountain climbers. Though we’ve all done jumping jacks and jogging in place since grade school, don’t underestimate exercises like burpees just because they’re body weight exercises. Those can kick your butt from here to next Tuesday and you’ll be feeling them for days.
Now you’ve chosen which body weight exercises you want to do, now you need to put your plan together. Consider building a circuit to hit all your muscle groups and keep your heart rate up.
Exercise Videos
Maybe you’d rather workout with a group, instead of by yourself. Sometimes it’s good to have someone encouraging you (or yelling at you) to help you push yourself. There are tons of great workout videos available free online. Many serve slightly different purposes, like teaching you proper form to workout on your own or helping you understand why certain exercises work. Check out a lot so you can find what works best for you. Just make sure to wear your brightly colored leotard and matching headband for best results.
Exercise Games
Video games that help you exercise and get in shape are a fairly recent development in the world of fitness. The first and most obvious of these games is Wii Fit. It’s fun, inviting and offers a number of exercise options. It has yoga, strength building, aerobics and even balance, all of which give a very robust set of exercises to fit most everyone’s fitness plan. Another great type of “exergame” is any dancing game. There a plenty of options in this category as well. Some are strictly for fun while some help you track progress. All of them will make you sweat and laugh. Some people wonder if you can even actually lose weight by just playing dancing games (with a little diet help). The answer? Yes. Just one song will have you breathing heavily and feeling your heart rate. Now try 30 minutes. The downside to “exergames” as a fitness method is you have to have the hardware to play them on. Game systems and kinetic trackers can easily run you a few hundred dollars, but these are a great option if you already have a game system of some sort.
These are a few great ways to stay on track of your fitness journey even when the weather outside is trying to convince you to grab a blanket and a movie. And don’t let that post-workout soreness slow you down. Grab some improved formula, fast-acting Zim’s Max-Freeze and keep on your journey!
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