KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | KHQ MD: Winter Fitness Alternatives

If you enjoy exercising outdoors, it can be tough to keep up your fitness routine in the winter months. Exercise Specialist and Registered Nurse Heidi Green from Deaconess Medical Center offers some suggestions to move your fitness routine indoors.

Heading indoors offers many options from exercise equipment: elliptical, treadmill, stationary bike, pool…to a myriad of classes: step, zumba, spinning, yoga, Pilates, TRX… The options are varied, the goal should be to find one (or more) that you like and is FUN!

Zumba is a dance fitness program that combines Latin and international music with dance moves (think salsa, tango, hip-hop) in an effort to make exercise fun. You will experience increased general cardiovascular fitness as well as toning (particularly the core: back, belly and bottom) if you participate in this class a few times each week.

BodyPump is a barbell class that strengthens the entire body. It is a 60-minute workout done to music that challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercise like squats, presses, lifts and curls. Taught in a format similar to traditional aerobic classes with a warm-up, exercise portion, and cool-down. BodyPump is a muscle strengthening routine and can be done 2-3x/week. Remember, your muscles need to recover between this type of workout, so rest at least one day between classes.

TRX is a type of training that uses gravity and your own bodyweight to build strength, power, balance, coordination, flexibility, core and joint strength. In class you constantly move from one exercise to the next in a circuit-like manner. TRX strengthens your heart, increases muscular endurance and fight against bone loss. You use your own body weight to adjust your exertion level by walking closer or further away from the anchor point. This keeps you constantly challenged and minimizes wasted time since you do not have to switch weights.

You will find that the TRX system helps to prevent injuries while developing a strong and stable core.

Changing up your fitness routine is a great way to condition different muscle groups, develop a new set of skill, and reduce boredom that creeps in after months of the same exercise routine. It also allows you the ability to vary the stress placed on specific muscles or even your cardiovascular system. After months of the same movements your body becomes extremely efficient performing them. Eventually, rather than continuing to improve, you simply maintain a certain level of fitness. Switching it up is also necessary to reduce the risk of injury from repetitive strain or overuse.