Search

Keeping Active During Winter Months

If You Don’t Use It, You Lose It…Keeping Active During Winter Months

 

Editors Note: Amy is Physical Therapist at Woodlawn Hospital. If you would like to schedule an appointment with her or one of her colleagues, please call 574-224-1160.

 

Indiana winters seem to drag on forever during the early months of the year, and those few warm days send everyone outside to get some much-needed Vitamin D and fresh air. These brief periods of high activity during an otherwise sedentary time of the year can put you at increased risk of injury. Staying active during the colder months will allow you to safely jump right back into those spring activities, like golfing, hiking, pickleball, or gardening.

 

Here are three tips to keep you moving this winter.

1. Try indoor workouts. There are thousands of free online exercise programs available to meet all levels of physical activity.

2. Park far away from the supermarket entrance and walk briskly through the parking lot when weather conditions allow. Avoid icy areas and watch for traffic.

3. Set ‘activity reminders’ on your phone or smartwatch to encourage walking throughout the day. It’s easy to get cozy on the couch and without realizing it, be inactive for hours at a time! Little reminders throughout the day can be super beneficial to increasing your activity.

 

You don’t have to hibernate during winter months. Stay active and spring will arrive before you know it!

More from Featured Contributors

  • Bees

    Education is frustrating. This past week I took 5th-grade students to Prairie Edge Nature Park to experience …nature.

  • Eastern Red Cedar

    A few weeks ago, while visiting a rural homeowner, I was looking at some eastern red cedars and there were some brown balls hanging from the branches.

  • Flies

    It is the time of year I like to talk about flies. They are frustrating and I am not the animal getting bit most of the time.

  • Mites

    Sidewalks are for more than just humans or people walking their dogs.