Fitness Tips: How to Keep Your Exercise Routine Intact After Summer’s Over

The weather has cooled, a chilly wind is blowing, and the couch is calling your name. In the summertime, it’s easy to keep your fitness levels high with the pressures of swimsuit season and beautiful weather to stay active. But when the fall and winter seasons hit, many of us find ourselves more comfortable lounging at home than at the gym.

Try these tried-and-true fitness tips to keep your exercise regime going after the sun has set on summertime.

Buy a gym membership. It sounds simple, but you’re more likely to use a gym membership if you actually pay for it instead of relying on free workouts (like your home treadmill or a run around the neighborhood).

Make a schedule. Make a workout schedule, and stick to it. Reward yourself with cheat meals, special trips or excursions, and other self-given prizes that won’t set you back too far on your fitness goals if you achieve them.

Be the DJ. Orchestrate the perfect workout playlist the night before you workout, so you can be pumped up and energized about the workout you’re about to complete. (Don’t forget to charge your music-playing devices so you can’t use that as an excuse to sit at home!)

Don’t go home between work and workout. It’s a proven fact: Once you’re home and in the comforts of your own place, you probably won’t venture out again into the cold to workout. So if you’re an evening-exerciser, go straight from work to the gym.

Buy new gear that gets you going. Whether it’s a new set of weight-lifting gloves, running shoes, an Ipod, or a new high-tech water bottle, invest in some exercise wear and technology that makes you want to go to the gym.

And for maximum motivation levels, be sure to follow these easy ways to stay hydrated before and after your workouts. Poor hydration is a major cause for adult exhaustion, and if you’re feeling sleep-deprived and sluggish, you definitely won’t be rolling out of bed excited to go work out.

Do you have any workout tips we missed for fall and winter?