3 Fun Ways to Be Active Indoors

Don't let the winter chill take the fun out of your physical activity plan.  These indoor activities add variety to your routine and challenge your body building your fitness level and burning serious calories. 

Kick it Up a Notch!
Kickboxing mixes boxing style punches, quick moving footwork and martial art style kicks to create a fun and fast paced workout.  This high intensity activity can be toned down or intensified to meet various fitness levels.  For example, alternate foot taps to the side in place of jumping to lower the impact or add traditional jumping jacks in between moves to kick it up a notch!  Kickboxing is typically completed in an aerobic class setting but DVDs are also available.  If you are a beginner remember to start slowly and work up to more complicated moves.  A sixty minute class is estimated to burn 650 calories.*

Spin Off!
Spinning takes the stationary bike to the extreme.  Spinning is an aerobic exercise that takes place on a specially designed stationary bike, typically in a class setting.  While pedaling, motivating music and instruction help you visualize an outdoor cycling workout.  Spinning burns major calories (750 calories/hour*), tones your quadriceps (front thigh muscles) and outer thigh muscles and requires little coordination.  This workout can be adjusted to meet the fitness level of many, simply by adjusting pace and the tension knob on the bike.  Although this activity is appropriate for many it is generally not advised for those just beginning a program.

Go for a Dip!
Take it to the pool (indoors of course)!  Swimming, water aerobics and pool based classes offer an option for every fitness level and are a great way to stay active during the winter months.  The benefits of working out in water are many but one of the greatest is the ability to participate in a high intensity workout with almost no impact.  This is especially beneficial for the individual recovering from injury.   Calories burned during a sixty minute workout vary and depend on the water activity selected.  For example during a sixty minute water aerobics class you can burn 285 calories.  Swimming laps at a moderate to vigorous intensity for the same sixty minutes will burn between 500 and 750 calories.*

*Estimates are based on a 150 pound person participating in the activity listed for sixty minutes.  The estimates were completed using the Healthy Utah Physical Activity Tracker. 

Information provided by the Healthy Utah Team