You want to be more active, so you’ve started walking around your neighbourhood for 20 minutes each day.  Unfortunately, some days are rainy or worse, storming or snowing outside.

What should you do if it’s time for your walk and the weather outside is frightful?

You can be active at home during bad weather

You can get exercise in front of your favourite TV shows.

Try these activities:

Walk in place.

Lift your hands from your sides until your arms are at 90 degrees to your body.  Then make circles with your arms, and/or raise your hands until they touch overtop of your head.

Do jumping jacks.

Do push ups or sit ups.

Be careful not to do too much, too fast.

You want to ease yourself into a habit of regular activity, not wear yourself out.

Find a sustainable set of repetitions:  like 5 push ups or 30 seconds of walking in place.  Do a set, take time to rest, and then repeat.

At the end of the 20 minutes, you should feel a degree of tiredness that tells you you’ve been moving, but you shouldn’t be utterly exhausted and ready for a nap.  If you are, you’re taking on too much too fast.

As with walking, there’s very little expense involved with basic aerobics.  The above listed activities don’t require equipment.  If you would like to buy equipment, two excellent choices are as follows.

Small Expense:  Light Weights

Arms don’t get as much exercise as legs when you’re walking, so rainy days are an excellent chance to give your arms a workout.  Department stores often carry a selection of different hand weights.

Buy a pair and hold them in your hands when you raise your arms over your head, make circles with your arms, or lift your arms up from your sides.  You can always buy heavier weights later if your first pair are no longer challenging.  Or, buy two sets, and switch to the lighter ones when you get too tired.

Larger Expense:  Exercise Bike

Climb on board an exercise bike and watch your favourite shows while you pedal.

If you find yourself wishing for rain so you can find out what happens next in your favourite TV show, remember, it’s also okay to use this method on a nice day if you prefer.  Varying your activity allows you to work different muscle groups.

What if you’re already walking or doing aerobics each day?  What do you do when these activities become too easy?  Come back next week for some Intermediate level activities!