7 winter exercise tips for busy people

7 Winter Exercise Tips for Busy PeopleWriten by Dale Reynolds

Finding Time in Your Schedule

Many people find summer exercise easy, because there are so many fun activities available when its warm outside. But if you live in the North, you might find exercise during the winter much more difficult. I refuse to run outdoors when its very cold, the road is icy, or the snow banks have narrowed the road significantly. But I also refuse to hibernate, since exercise helps improve your immune system to help you fight off winter colds and flu, and also gives you energy and a positive outlook. So, here are a few tips to get you thinking about staying active all year long!

Find exercise videos you love, and carve out a space indoors with the equipment you need. I exercise in my basement all year long, and add outdoor activities when weather permits. The great thing about having an exercise video collection, and the right space, is that you have absolutely no excuses! Weather, time of day, long lines for equipment, etc. will not stop you from burning calories! My personal favorites come from The Firm, and my favorite place to shop is Collage Video. Visit my website, www.slimdale.com and click on Links to get there.

The new fall television lineup will be here soon. Use TV commercial breaks! Many people ignore strength training because they feel cardio burns more calories. But adding muscle to your body will raise your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories all day long. Resistance training also strengthens your bones, and just getting stronger can help you with a multitude of daily activities. So find a book, magazine article, wall chart or other resource showing exercises to work all major muscle groups, and do a set of repetitions during each commercial. Youll get a 20-minute workout during one 60-minute show!

Join a walking club at a local school, or walk inside a shopping mall. You can window-shop before the stores open so you go right to the store that has the best sales or the styles you love when they are open.

Park farther away from the door and walk. At work, at the grocery store, at the mall; any place where youre stuck walking outside anyway, just bundle up and get a few extra steps. When indoors, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Youll burn lots more calories. You can even try using restrooms, copy machines, etc. on a different floor just to get more exercise. Consider wearing a pedometer and challenging yourself to keep increasing your steps per day.

Use your lunch break if you work in an office. If your company has a gym, use it. Walk outside when the weather permits. If its raining or snowing, walk laps around the parking garage or laps around each floor perimeter plus the steps between floors.

Be less efficient! If you live in a multi-story house, take as many trips up and down the stairs as you can instead of saving things to go up or down. At the office, take a walk to see your coworkers instead of always using email. Face-to-face conversation is often better anyway, as it avoids misunderstandings and leads to better bonding and teamwork.

Consider winter sports. Skiing (downhill or cross-country), ice skating, and snow-shoeing can all burn lots of calories. Also, just play in the snow! Go sledding or build a snowman, and make some snow angels!

I hope these tips help you to stay active this winter! Remember, the key to weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume (and weight maintenance is balancing the intake and the burn equally over time.) If you dont burn calories with exercise, youll need to cut your food intake, and that will be especially difficult during the holidays. I personally would rather exercise more and enjoy a few holiday cookies! So get in the habit of exercising consistently now!

About The Author

Dale Reynolds lives in upstate New York where she works as a weight loss counselor and has recently published a book, A Slim Book On Weighty Matters

Visit her website and sign up for her free newsletter!

dale@slimdale.com

a diet and exercise plan that will last

A Diet And Exercise Plan That Will LastWriten by Robert Hirscheimer

Planning on making a new year's resolution to lose weight and get into shape? If you are like the majority of the population, you will tell yourself that you will eat better and exercise more. If that's all you intend to do, like most people you will fail within two weeks.

Don't you wish you could capture the will and determination
you sometimes have to lose weight and get into shape?
Unfortunately, the little voice inside our head is not always
helpful. Along with the positive messages and visualizations
of a slimmer healthier person, you are also tempted by the
comfort and satisfaction that your favorite foods provide,
albeit only for a moment.

You may want to try a new trend that is helping dieters get
lean and stay that way, by creating a website dedicated to your
health. Your website could include all your positive thoughts,
meal plans, and strategies for losing weight. If and when you
are tempted to slip into your old habits, you can visit your website to remind yourself why you need to stick to your new lifestyle. Just the act of creating the website will have a positive effect because it will help entrench all the reasons you want to be healthy.

The website can be a place where you post pictures of yourself
at a time when you were at your biggest, to give yourself
motivation not to return to that form. You could also upload
pictures of yourself when you may have been slim years ago, or
images of someone you would like to look like.

Your website is a great place to keep track of your training
schedule. You can create an exercise plan and document your
progress daily. It is also recommended to create a page on the
website that will be your journal where you can enter everything that happens in your life on a daily basis.

Your personal website is a way that people close to you can keep track of your progress even if they live across the world. If you prefer the website remain for yourself only it can be password protected. The website or online journal can be particularly useful if you travel a lot. You can post entries from any computer no matter where you are. You can also review the website for motivation, meal ideas, exercise routines, or to update your journal.

Making a personal website requires no technical skills and is as easy as filling in forms and clicking on a few buttons. You can use a website builder that makes it as easy as 123. Give it a try. What do you have to lose other than a few pounds!

Robert Hirscheimer is the President of http://makeswebsites.com the #1 website builder on the Internet. Makeswebsites.com allows anyone to create an incredible website for a diet and health plan, a family, a business, a foundation, an association or for any purpose. The company also operates the largest Event website builder on the Internet, where anyone create an awesome website for their wedding, class reunion, family reunion, new baby, or any event. Go to http://www.myevent.com or Go to http://www.makeswebsites.com to start a 7 day free trial with no credit card required. The cost is only $9.95 after the free trial.

getting the most out of your treadmill workout

Getting the Most Out of Your Treadmill WorkoutWriten by Fred Waters

You know what makes exercising on a treadmill so effective in losing weight and getting in shape the ability to adjust the incline. With the push of a button you can adjust the intensity level of your workout to any degree.

If you live in a flatlander state like Illinois and you run or walk outside, youre stuck at one level. With a treadmill you can simulate running or walk on hills or mountains, and that is where you start getting the heart beating and the calories burning.

Breaking Out of the Exercise Rut

For those of us who exercise regularly, we tend to get into a rut. And once you get stuck in a rut you reach a plateau. You find that you are not losing any more weight, and you are not getting in better shape. By changing up your routine and the intensity of your workout you can reach new highs in your personal fitness.

That is why hill and interval training are such popular programs on the treadmill. In fact, one of the hottest trends in exercising and weigh loss is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This new form of aerobic exercising manages to get the maximum results in less time. And for us who struggle to find the time to exercise, this type of workout is very attractive.

Treadmill Are Ideal for Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training requires exercising at high intensity levels for 1-3 minutes, and follow-up with a recovery period that is approximately 2 to 3 times longer. HIIT can apply whether you run or walk. It just is a matter of raising the incline level and getting the heart beating faster.

Treadmills are ideal for aerobic workouts like High Intensity Interval Training. You crank the treadmill up to a high incline for several minutes then reduce the level and slow down to a walk or slow jog. You can either use existing hill or interval programs on the treadmill (most at least have hill training), or you can manually control the workout to a level you feel comfortable with.

The important point is get out of the rut. Experiment with different speeds and incline levels. As you start getting comfortable at a certain level for a certain period, increase both the incline and the period of time. The benefits of breaking out of the rut is burning more calories, getting in better shape and breaking up the boredom of your exercise routine.

If you plan to increase your level of exercising, make sure you are physically in shape to handle the intensity. You may want to check with your physician first, particularly if you are just starting back into a fitness routine.

Fred Waters worked in the treadmill industry for a number of year and is author of the Treadmill Ratings and Reviews site. Check out the latest reviews on over 75 of the most popular treadmills, and get important buying tips from the Treadmill Buyer's Guide.