As a professional trainer, one of the toughest things is to set the clocks back one hour every October. Not because the action is physically demanding, but because of what it signals to me about my athletes.

By turning the clocks back, it is a yearly sign that daily sunlight is going to decrease, the temperature is going to drop, and my athlete’s outdoor sports are going to cease until the spring. In addition to this, the holidays will bring less activity and lots of food. All of these reasons cause many of my athletes to spend the winters cooped up inside, exercising less, eating more, and erasing gains from the summer and fall.

Training all year is a must for athletic success. This article will show you how to stay fit during the cold winter months, and how you can emerge from your winter hibernation a stronger, faster, leaner athlete.

The Power of Goal Setting

One important thing that I have learned from working with top athletes is that if you do not have specifically defined goals, you do not have direction. The first winter challenge for you is to write down all of the physical fitness goals you want to achieve by spring. Not only does this force you to determine where you want to go, but this helps make sure you get there.

Sample goals should be about how much you would like to weigh, what your body fat will be, and the totals of your best lifts. The second challenge is to make these goals public to the important people around you. Tell everyone what your winter goals are, and post these goals somewhere that people can see them. By doing this, you have made a commitment to achieve these goals, and if you do get off track, they will remind you to get back on the path. The last challenge is to get a winter training partner with similar goals or a personal coach. You are not going to want to train hard every day. A partner or coach will keep you focused and working hard.

Winter Strength Work

Even though there is less light and heat, this doesn't mean that you can’t exercise indoors. One of the best winter exercises is weight training. This can be done inside, it will build strength and muscle, it is a great fat-burning activity, and it does not require fancy equipment. A bar and some weights is all any athlete needs to get stronger. Even if you don’t have that, body squats, push ups, crunches, and chin ups can get the job done. A great technique is do 10 pushups, 10 crunches, and 10 body squats every time you see a commercial on television. Not only will this get you stronger, but it will let you know if you are watching too much.

Look for Part II of “Staying Fit for the Winter” in the coming days on MaxPreps.com.

-Bill Parisi, Parisi Speed School

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