What do you do when the weather decides to throw a monkey wrench in your exercise plans?

Before I started my home gym, I used the Nerdfitness bodyweight workout: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

oops, sorry just saw you say the fitness videos bore you

I like neilarey.com for good body weight workouts (chart form), but I LOVE fitnessblender.com. Yeah, the second link is workout videos but I like 'em. HIIT + weight training does it for me.

Body weight work outs and running in place are good alternatives. Dumbbells are also pretty affordable. There are lots of tutorials and workouts online that you can pull up.

Cleaning ice off the drive and sidewalks is actually pretty good exercise. Other than doing something like that, I typically use icy weather as a reason to take a break. Taking an occasional break from exercise can be as important to fitness as the exercise itself. As long as we don't take too long of break, what usually happens after a break is that our performance improves, because our body has had time to heal.

I am a hiker and you can buy icers for over your boots 25-35 dollars. I use them to hike in the woods in any weather. Still good exercise and if you are like me I only want to be outside.

I know you said fitness videos bore you but I have one that I love to use when I can't get out of the house. It's a throwback from a long time ago...Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies. It is so much and I love to dance. I also have a Zumba video and Wii fitness/sports. Sometimes I just put some music on and dance like no one is watching!

As has been said to me in the past 'There is no such thing as inappropriate weather just inappropriate clothing'!

Chivalryder has the answer for the really icy paths but personally I would just find myself a playing field/park and run laps on the grass as it will give more than enough grip to run on.

elphie754 wrote: »

I have using the zombies, run! C25k program and a solution love it! I feel like 3x a week is not enough for me though so I have been doing 5x a week and repeating the days I feel I didn't do so well with. I work nights, so have been exercising when I get home (since its warmer, safer and lighter).

Sunday morning, when I got off work, it was icing out. It took me over an hour to get home when it normally takes 15 minutes. The roads were terrible and a lot of people were getting hurt/car accidents everywhere. I decided to skip going out since it just wasnt safe.

I couldn't go when I woke up because I work Sunday nights as well. I intend on going out tomorrow morning, but the roads are getting icy again. I don't know if it will get better by 9am.

So what are your back up plans for when Mother Nature won't cooperate with your goals? Fitness videos bore me and I don't have money for a gym right now.

How exciting to meet another Runner5!
I used Zombied 5k last year for a while, until my knees got the better of me (it happens every time - I get to week seven and can't walk - I keep trying because I love running). By the time I came back from injury it was too dark to be running from zoms, so I stuck to cycling for a while. Running is (or should be) a special treat for me now.

Truth is, if I want to go out and run, cycle or ride, NOTHING will stop me (it was -2 this weekend and I still went out running twice and cycled 20 miles. I'm lucky to live in the UK where even though we get ice and snow it's only for a few weeks at a time and it's only just below zero. The flip side is that if I don't want to go out, NOTHING can make me.

On my bike, I can pull my bandanna up over my face to keep my breath from freezing my throat, walk (carefully) to the main road where the council will have put grit down and all the traffic should have got rid of most of the ice. If I stick to bus routes and make copious use of primary position, I find I don't notice the temperature once I've warmed up. I've cycled to work and back in -10 - one of my best cycling memories, it was a beautiful day. I think I've had about one week in total where it was too bad to cycle - over the last ten years!

If I want to run, the bandanna over the face is less necessary. A longer warmup than usual and stick to grassy or gravel tracks or run on the grass verge. I drive or cycle somewehere if necessary, but I've never had to use cleats of any sort while running.

The neddies have a covered (and lit) indoor school so that's no bother once I'm there.

A special note about rain; I think cyclists have a special relationship with rain. Don't bother trying to avoid getting wet - if you're out longer than twenty minutes, even the best waterproofs in the world won't help much - just keep warm, keep going and have a change of clothes ready.