Winter is a time for hibernating – it’s when we rest, recuperate and eat warming and nourishing foods. It is essential that we do this, but we need to keep gently moving our bodies on a daily basis.
A brisk walk outside is perfect, swinging the arms to get your circulation going. Gentle stretches to the whole body. Think about moving every joint to ensure you don’t ‘seize up’! Maybe you could think about joining a yoga class?
As spring comes you’ll feel like doing more. Perhaps you’ll exercise more. Maybe you’ll take on a new, active hobby or you’ll be pottering about in the garden more often.
Here are our top tips for being active after ‘hibernation’:
- Ease yourself in gently, particularly if you have not been doing any kind of regular physical movement.
- Make sure that your walks are circular, so if you start to struggle you are not far from home.
- Start with lower weights and repetitions and build up slowly.
- Plan your activities so that you are using all parts of the body during exercise.
- Make sure that you have regular breaks.
- If you’re outside, make sure that you wrap up warm.
Remember each day is a new day, listen to your body and be active accordingly. Just because you achieved a certain amount of activity yesterday, you may not be able to do the same amount today or even tomorrow.