You’ve stuck to your New Year’s Resolution and things have been going great!  Inches are melting away from your waist, the dog is getting more walk time than ever and most importantly, you just feel better.  You’ve realized the benefits of cold outdoor air in your lungs and love the snowy change of scenery. However, weather in the Midwest is unpredictable; now one day is ice the next.   So what will happen to your workout when you can’t “work” outside?  

Prepare for the unpredictable or just add some variety to your winter workout. Staying on a regular exercise routine is beneficial to both your medical and chiropractic care.  Here is a thorough list of exercises from the Back Pain Clinic Belleville, that will keep you fit and NOT back to fat

Lunges: Lunges are great for the legs and glutes, start slow to avoid over-extending the knee, increasing reps each time. This exercise will make legs very tired and very sore. Might be best to save this for the middle, peak part of the workout.      

Chiropractic Benefit: Strengthen the muscles that work to stabilize the spine in the back and in stomach

Stair Steppers: Walking up and down stairs burns calories alone. Adding some extra repetitions and speeds to your daily stair walking will help get your heart rate up and body fit. If you don’t have stairs in your home you can use a block or any solid 2”-5” surface to step up and down on repetitively. With varying speeds and styles a good stair stepper workout can replace a good cardio workout.

Chiropractic Benefit: Low impact workout that, with good posture, won’t place any undue strain on your back

Lying down bicycle kicks: Lying flat on your back, legs bent and in the air at 90 degrees, begin moving legs through the bicycling/ pedaling motions in the air. Increase speed and repetitions to increase heart rate and the difficulty of the workout. The key here is to keep form to avoid pulling muscles the wrong way.

Chiropractic Benefit: Redistributes weight to focus on gaining strength and balance in the core area

Yoga: Stretching is key to core strength, your body’s flexibility and ability to complete workouts in a healthy and safe way. Finding a few yoga poses, or stretches that suite your needs is important. To keep the stretches new and challenging, YouTube offers endless yoga instructional videos to help guide you through any pre or post workout stretching.

Chiropractic Benefit: exercise works to improve muscle balance and core strength while toning the muscles in the back, legs and abdomen. Doing this exercise regularly promotes spine stabilization which is beneficial in everyday movements including walking, running and carrying a child.