The darker mornings and evenings leave us feeling lower on energy, and we generally feel like all we want to do is be at home on the sofa with a blanket and possibly a pet, book TV or all of the above.
BUT Don’t hibernate – Keep active!
Here’s our 10 Top Tips for Beating the Winter Blues…
- Pack your gym bag the night before and take it to work with you. It is harder to come to the gym if you have been home first.
- Don’t work through lunch! Take a break at lunch, and make sure you eat. Try eating something warm where possible. Eat more protein (chicken, eggs), good fats (avocado, olive oil dressing) and fruit and vegetables. You don’t want to be burnt out before you get here, and you want to have energy when you are working out.
- Keep hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids during the day, restricting the amount of caffeine you drink. Too much caffeine will dehydrate you, and make you feel tired once the buzz wears off. Too much caffeine is also bad for your joints.
- Keep to your routine. Once you start to skip sessions and fall out of habit, it makes it much harder to get back into a routine.
- If possible, make plans to meet a friend at the gym, or book a class. Having something in the diary is going to make it more likely that you will commit. Strangely, humans don’t mind letting themselves down as much as letting someone else down.
- Compile a great play list for the gym. Choose those songs that pick you up, make you smile, songs that, if you were on your own you would be singing to at the top of your voice!
- Don’t overdo it. As the winter comes, we tend to have less energy than we did in the summer months. Keep your workout moderate without compromising your goals.
- Mix it up. If you are finding your work out is becoming to ‘samey’, change it up, keep your body interested. If you want some alternative exercises, ways of working or a completely new plan, speak to one of the fitness team.
- Stretch! This will help you in a number of ways. This will help reduce DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness), it is likely that you will ache less the next day – helping prevent you skipping workouts due to muscular aches. Other benefits include increased blood flow, calming the mind and improving posture.
- Reward yourself. Take 20 minutes in the sauna and steam room, and warm your cockles thorough, take a good book and unwind. The sauna and steam can help to reduce DOMS, and help to reduce stress.
