Staying active is always more brutal in the winter. The cold, darkness, snow, and slush make it harder to participate in outdoor activities and decrease general motivation. Winter fitness is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and mental health. Indoor sports centers such as Wintrust Sports Complex offer plenty of opportunities to stay active indoors when the weather is too miserable outside.
What is Winter Fatigue?
If you struggle with staying in shape in winter, you’re not the only one. General winter fatigue and seasonal depression result in lower energy levels, tiredness, and the desire to do nothing but curl up under the blankets.
Different physiological factors contribute to winter fatigue. The limited daylight hours of winter mean less sunlight, less vitamin D, and possible disruption of your internal clock. Vitamin D deficiency is less of a concern in the warmer months when it’s easier to get enough sun exposure. Lack of vitamin D impacts mood, energy levels, and even the immune system.
Winter weather, especially in areas such as Chicago, includes cold temperatures, freezing windchills, snow, ice, and slush. This makes outdoor activities less appealing or even dangerous. The more sedentary winter lifestyle we often adopt negatively impacts our mental and physical health.
In addition, between holidays, celebrations, and the weather, people often crave high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich comfort foods in winter. Combined with less activity, this leads to energy crashes and weight gain.
Importance of Winter Fitness
Winter fitness is critical to maintain a healthy lifestyle year-round. Staying active in the colder months combats feelings of winter fatigue and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs at a specific time of year, usually in the winter. Winter activities boost serotonin levels, improving mood and energy.
For casual and more competitive athletes, staying in shape in winter makes it easier to jump back in once spring hits.
Another major tip for staying healthy throughout the winter is to remember to hydrate. People are more likely to crave water during the warmer months, but a lack of thirst makes it easier to get dehydrated in the colder months.
Winter Activities at Home
Sometimes, being outside is not the only roadblock to staying in shape in winter. The weather, and more specifically, the roads, may be bad enough that leaving the house at all is a challenge. Winter fitness is possible even when you’re stuck at home.
Put on some of your favorite music and have a dance party, solo or with friends. Simply getting your body moving can significantly decrease the levels of winter fatigue. Bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups and squats, and cardio, such as jumping jacks, require no equipment. A slow and relaxing yoga circuit can be a great choice when you have limited energy and motivation. The internet and different apps have plenty of resources, including free resources for guided workouts and guides.
Pivot and Adapt Your Activities
If you are great at remaining active outside for most of the year but struggle in winter, consider how you can pivot your usual activities and adapt them for winter. Soccer is less fun when the field is covered in snow and ice, but indoor soccer or even futsal is an option. Move your local pick-up outdoor basketball games to the local hardwood gym. Running on icy sidewalks and streets is dangerous, but an indoor track is warm and dry.
If your daily walks become a struggle when the temperatures with the windchill are in the single digits, and the sun sets too early, there are options to move your walk inside and away from the elements. Mall walking provides a safe indoor space for winter fitness.
Adapt to the Elements
One major way to combat the winter blues is getting outside, even just for a few minutes, to breathe in some fresh air and find some sunshine. Most activities can become winter activities with the proper adjustments. Investing in gear such as more layers and winter accessories, reflective gear, and even snowshoes can keep you outside. On winter days, when the sun is actually shining, try to get at least a handful of minutes outside. Even shoveling the driveway or building a snowman is considered exercise.
Stay Active With Friends
A lack of motivation is one of the biggest hurdles for winter exercise. Planning activities with friends or groups helps. Gather your friends for open gym times, join an indoor winter sports league, or even rent out some court space for a sports party – it doesn’t even need to be anyone’s birthday.
Adults generally struggle to stay active in the winter than children do. They don’t have regular gym classes in school or school sports and participate less in sledding, snowman building, and simply “playing the snow.” Adult indoor recreational winter sports are a great way to stay active all season long. Popular indoor recreation winter sports leagues for youth and adults include volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, and now pickleball is picking up popularity. Recreational sports leagues offer a chance to make friends, stay active, and even learn a new skill. Many gyms and community centers also offer open gym times for more casual play.
Winter at Wintrust Sports Complex
At Wintrust Sports Complex in Bedford Park in Chicago, we know how awful Chicago winters can be. Our facility is the perfect shelter from the winter elements and a cure to the winter blues.
The indoor gym space at Wintrust Sports Complex is perfect for a variety of sports or open gym activities. Gather your friends and book a sports party package, including court time, food, and arcade cards. Or contact us about simply renting out some court space for an hour or longer. Check our schedule of open gym times for pickleball or other sports.
Laser tag is a great way to get active and take out some stress on your friends. Our 2,000 square foot laser tag arena is perfect to hide from the winter blues.
Sometimes, just getting out of the house and engaging in any activity is enough. The redemption arcade at Wintrust Sports Complex may not be as active as the gym, but can still increase that heart rate and provide other benefits. Winter, especially around the holidays, can increase stress. Arcade games can help to reduce stress and improve mental health.
After time on the court, the laser tag arena, or the arcade, you can relax with some delicious comfort food at The Station Grille, our full service bar and restaurant. Wintrust is here to help keep you active all winter long.
