Many part of the US have receive phenomenal amounts of snow.  Making the roads narrow and slippery, running ,or even walking, outdoors may be dangerous.  If you want to partake in outdoor exercise, what are your options?  Sure, you can go skiing, but that means spending money on a lift ticket, never mind needing to own or rent skis.  However, we were able to elicit some excellent ideas for outdoor exercise that is inexpensive and can be done at home.

1. Shovelling

Ok, this may be a chore, but it also can provide an excellent workout.  According to Davie Tibbetts, you should “approach it like a workout where you do warms ups, you invent and do repetitions, and rest breaks. You work each side of the body evenly, work up a sweat. Well, the driveway seemed to go a lot quicker and it felt good doing it.”

2. Sledding

No need to make excuses for playing in the snow with your kids; this will count as your daily workout!  Carlo Celotti, a personal trainer and nutritionist, recommends sledding as a form of winter exercise.  “There are plenty of inexpensive sleds on the market and running up the hill to go back down again is a great cardio interval workout, not to mention fun, too.”

3.  Snow Pilates

Why keep your Pilates routine indoors when you can perform it outdoors?  Lindsay Lopez, a professional Pilates instructor, recommends trying it in the snow.  “ROLL around in the snow! Do some classic Pilates moves in the snow for more resistance and work in your abdominals!  Sit in the snow and make a ball shape with your body. Grab behind you knees, curl your tailbone under you, and roll back and forth on your spine. Pull your abdominals in and up the whole time and try to stay in a tight ball.

Don’t look at the snow as a barrier to your workout; consider it a part of the routine.