Winter warm up?

For those of us who regularly use the gym or indoor pool as our source of conditioning all the year is the same but if you have always avoided the gym like the plague and finds interminable lengths in the pool a no no, how can you keep the mobility at least going whilst waiting for the warmer weather which brings the beach, park, sea, cycle and walking tracks back?

Fortunately we still get good sunny days which means that for those are tied to work during the week can usually get a sunny spell at the weekend for a walk or bike ride.

Shorter days mean time is often of the essence so a long stroll along the beach may not be possible.

Twenty minutes of concerted exercise is certainly enough to give us benefit so a short but as brisk as possible walk is always good to have. As long as we are aware of our body condition and always increase the effort gradually there should be little to go wrong.

If just walking fast is not enough for your fitness requirements a long gentle jog again is not always the best way to go. Try the “fartlek” style of interval training or in old fashioned parlance “Scouts pace”. Walk fast then run at three quarter pace for the distance you walked. Return to a more leisurely pace until you feel able to up the speed again to brisk walk then run. Here you can use time or distance to increase or decrease the effort. This system offers you a wide range of possibilities and means you can vary the effort with how the weather or time will constrain you and – importantly – how you feel.

For example :

Using the short way across the footy oval first of all and then gradually change line until you are full length for twenty minutes will have even the fittest of us gasping.

In the street lamp posts are useful measurement goals but running on grass is always favourite rather than the unyielding tarmac.

If its really nasty outside substitute indoor exercise for the outside stuff. The simple mini-trampoline can give even the most unfit of us a good work out. Even if you dont feel able to bounce just walking on the tramp will not only give you leg movement, heart and lung exercise it will also give you good balance work.

Cycling indoors can be jazzed up to make it interesting, either an exercise bike or the simple stands that you can support the back wheels of your bike on is a favourite base for exercise. You can easily make it more palatable with music, T.V. (or if you are that committed) reading work papers.

At the lowest of levels just a few minutes of walking/running on the spot, taking in a few flights of stairs, or doing some simple exercises with elastic resistance or impromptu weights will help keep the feeling of well being going through the winter.

What is important is that the type and level of exercise you do is matched to your physical ability at the time. If you have flu, a chest infection or any debilitating illness this is not a good time to exercise and especially not to your normal level.

Some of us like to exercise every day but there is little proof that this is any more beneficial than every other day. The harder you exercise the more the need for recovery days. Try and vary the pace timing and activity of exercise. Some of us are better in solitary exercise and can push ourselves without outside encouragement. Some need the company of similar sufferers to keep them going.
Identify which type you are. Find a friend for a sunny day walk to the beach or just get out in that rain again and push yourself up that hill one more time.

Normally we know ourselves and know what we can achieve . Not sure how to go about it ?

Let us advise you . We know what your body can and will do safely. We are well versed in exercise induced injuries and can help you avoid them.

Roll on Spring!

Miles James