Tips for Fall Fitness

It’s about that time again. Here in New England, there are already a few trees with their leaves turning shades of yellow and orange. Luckily, fall is one of the best seasons for exercise: the temperature drops a bit, but there’s still enough daylight to catch a bit of sun before or after work. As the summer comes to an end, it’s the perfect time for a lifestyle assessment. Did you exercise as much as you had hoped? If yes, do you think it’s time to take your exercise to the next level? If no, what do you think held you back? Can you make changes that will make this season more successful? Now is a great time to set goals for the upcoming months. A few tips for fall fitness:

• Try something new. Check out Health Eagle‘s past article on falling into fitness for ways to add exercise to your lifestyle with a bit of an autumn twist.
• Set news goals and write them down. Many people have summer goal events, such as a 5k, to stay motivated during the summer. Why not set up goals year round? What do you want to accomplish this season? Write down your goals, sign your name on the bottom, and post it somewhere where you will see it every day. This can be doubly effective if you also write down your motivation. For what reason or for whom are you exercising: for your kids, for your SO, for yourself? Give yourself a written reason to get out of your bed a little earlier every morning.
• Beat the dark. Willingness to adapt your schedule to be able to perform your workout during the day can help ward off the winter blues.
• If you can’t beat it, join it. It may be impossible to exercise in daylight or at a gym, but who says you can’t exercise in the dark? It just takes a few extra safety precautions:
  • Walk or run with reflective gear and/or a flashlight.
  • Install appropriate lights on your bike or bike helmet
  • Be predictable: make your path routine so the cars know to expect you
• Have a fallback exercise video. There’s going to be that day that you just can’t get out the door. Maybe the weather looks gloomy, the sunlight escaped sooner than you expected, or you just plain don’t feel like getting out to the gym – that doesn’t mean you should call it quits on the exercise front! Find a few workout videos that you enjoy or get you excited. They can be short, such as 5-minute ab drills, or longer, such as a 60-minute yoga session. Alternatively, you can take your favorite fall TV-shows and pair them with exercises, such as alternating lunges and push-ups during commercial breaks.

Regular exercise can help reduce your risk of developing several lifestyle diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Fall into fitness for a healthier and happier lifestyle.

(Photo courtesy of John Nyberg)