Top Ten Indoor Exercises for the Winter

According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development the average individual will gain at least a pound over the course of the winter. While table-breaking thanksgiving dinners play a part in the weight gain, winter inactivity certainly contributes.

For those that live in Hawaii and other sun-drenched locations, there are plenty of options for winter exercise. But, for the rest of us—we need some form of indoor exercise for the winter. Without it, we'd have to completely forgo the turkey dinner and eggnog—and who wants to do that?

Obviously, you can always attend a gym which gives you an almost unlimited number of indoor winter exercises. However, this article focuses on people who don't want a gym membership and aren't Jennifer Lopez (who has a $50K home gym). So, for the average Joe (or Jane), the following are the top ten indoor exercises that can be done this winter without requiring expensive, specialized equipment.

The Push-Up

The push-up is an old standby. Ever since the days of cavemen, teenagers have been doing pushups in futile attempts to, “get ripped” (futile not because the exercise doesn't work but because pretty much anything you do during puberty is futile). If you don't have any equipment and only want to do one exercise, this is the one to do. A pushup effectively works shoulders, triceps, chest and even incorporates abdominal muscles. Simply by positioning your hands differently (a closer grip incorporates more triceps) you can change which muscle groups are most heavily recruited. Small children, dogs or even petite spouses can be used as additional weight by having them sit on your shoulders.

Squats

To really get a good workout from squats you'll need an inexpensive set of dumbbells. Smaller dumbells can be purchased online for as little as eleven dollars. Obviously heavier dumbbells cost more and the heaviest (one hundred pounds or more) can be as much as two hundred twenty dollars. However, if you need hundred pound dumbbells to get a good indoor winter workout from squats, you probably already have a gym membership.

Curls

Want big guns? Or, maybe you just don't want arms that keep waving long after you've stopped. Curls can build and tone that all-american muscle—the biceps. Again, a pair of dumbbells will be useful. What better way to spend the winter than building massive guns for the upcoming summer beach season?

Sit-Ups

Remember middle school? When old man winter puts the chill on, start cranking out the situps and before you know it you'll have washboard abs. Of all the indoor winter exercises you can perform, situps are the best for targeting the tummy. Unfortunately, spot fat removal doesn't work and all of your hard work will be invisible under a layer of fat if you don't keep the weight off through the next six indoor winter exercises.

Military Press

A chair and some dumbbells are all you need to do military press. This exercise targets the deltoids (shoulder muscles). If you decide to do heavier weights a spotter (someone to watch you and assist if needed) is a good idea as dropping a forty pound weight on your head is a quick way to ruin the holidays.

Lunges

I cringe when I see people do lunges poorly. Usually they're sixteen years old and are using way too much weight. Nothing turns sixteen-year-old knees into sixty-year-old knees faster than slamming them into the ground because you've using too much weight for your lunges. But, if you use a reasonable amount of weight (a pair of small dumbbells should do) lunges are a great leg exercise.

Lateral Raises

This exercise is also known as shoulder flyes. By adjusting your stance and leaning forward you can work the posterior portion of the deltoids. By standing straight you work the lateral portion of the muscle more. Lateral raises don't make good use of leverage and even the strongest people don't typically need heavy dumbbels for this exercise.

Skullcrushers

Okay, can any exercise sound more manly than skullcrushers? For those that aren't quite as caveman, using a semi-intelligent weight will prevent any frontal lobe damage. Most of the previous indoor winter exercises, excluding push-ups, do not recruit the triceps muscles. If you want nice arms, you should probably do an exercise that focuses on the largest muscle in the arm and skullcrushers are one of the best.

Yoga

Okay, so yoga isn't really an exercise and technically you could even say it's closer to a religion than an exercise. But, the asana or yoga postures consist of numerous positions that, according to the Mayo Clinic increase flexibility, improve circulation and relieve stress.

Balance Board

Again, some people might not consider this an exercise but improving your balance is helpful in any athletic endeavor and in the winter, just walking down the street should be considered an athletic endeavor (at least if your city snowblows its sidewalks as infrequently as mine). There are many kinds of balance boards but my own personal favorite consists of a two-liter bottle and a fifty cent piece of scrap lumber from your local home improvement store. Fill the two-liter bottle completely with water, put the board (approximately the size of a skateboard deck) on the bottle and have at it. One warning: of all the exercises listed here the balance board has the greatest likelihood of injury so take it slow and easy.

So, this winter, you've got no excuse—these top ten indoor winter exercises should help you keep the holiday weight off and get you ready for next year's swimsuit season!

National Institutes of Health, Holiday Weight Gain Slight http://www.nichd.nih.gov/news/releases/holidayweightgain.cfm, But May Last A Lifetime, NIH News Alert

Mayo Clinic Staff, Stretching: Focus on flexibility http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/HQ01447, Mayo Clinic