Alright, so if you read last week’s blog post, this one is going to sound a little similar. If you live in South Dakota, or really anywhere up North it seems, you know we’ve been dealt some fun weather this week. An ice storm on Tuesday that rolled right into a blizzard that didn’t really seem to stop until Friday evening. And on top of that, the temps for next week look like they will be well below zero for a majority of the week – winter is here, folks!

All of this winter weather can make it difficult sometimes to get your usual work out in. Whether it’s too cold and icky outside to workout outdoors, or like on Tuesday, it was a little too icy to really be driving anywhere, so I couldn’t make it to my parent’s to work out, or even if a gym was open, it would have been difficult to get there as well.

So, what do you do when you’re stuck inside at home and you don’t own any exercise equipment? Give up and take a nap instead, right? WRONG! You improvise! There are plenty of forms of exercise where really all you need is your body.

I wrote a whole blog post a few months back about the wonders of yoga. Literally the only thing you’d need is a mat, or at least some soft carpet so you don’t hurt yourself on the hard floor. And it doesn’t require a lot of space either, you could do it on your bedroom floor if you wanted to. It’s an easy solution to get a great work out in. If you’re interested, go check out my blog post called “Benefits of Yoga” to find out a little more.

Bodyweight workouts are also a great way to get a good workout in that doesn’t require any equipment. On Monday night and Tuesday, I just worked out in my living room. I pushed the coffee table out of the way for a little more room, and went to work. The app I most frequently use is called the Nike Training App. It’s free, and it has dozens of different workouts that focus on glutes and legs, core work, or upper body. And they range in length from anywhere from 10 minutes, to a whole hour. Since it was all I did for my workout those days, I did some of the longer ones, and trust me, I was sweating! I definitely didn’t feel like I was getting skimped on my workout.

Next week, the highs aren’t even supposed to get above zero, so running outside is not really going to be an option some days. Hopefully the roads will be better though, and I’ll still be able to get to the gym or my parent’s to use some of the exercise equipment, but it’s going to be a bit of change up from what I would typically do during the week. But that’s okay! I’m still going to make the time to get my workout in even if the weather doesn’t cooperate with me. And who knows, maybe I’ll even try something new next week that I’ve never done before. We’ll have to see!

Unfortunately, we can’t control Mother Nature, and sometimes she does make it difficult to get your workout in, but it’s not impossible. Don’t use it as en excuse! As you can see above, there are plenty of other options to keep moving.

Winter is only just beginning y’all. If you start with the excuses now, it’s going to be a long couple of months for you! Keep grinding and working hard to get it done!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger