Snowshoeing is something anybody can do. It doesn’t require much investment or a special location.”  Thirty minutes will burn approximately 250 calories and work all the major muscles: quads, hamstrings, and glutes. For a full body workout try adding poles to strengthen the upper back, arms and shoulders.   

Shoveling snow burns 400 calories an hour and effectively works the abs, biceps, glutes, calves, deltoids, and quads.

Cross country skiing burns more calories per hour than any other sport. Not only is it low-impact, low-stress, and low-risk, it is practical, life-long winter activity that is easy to learn.

Ice Skating not only boosts coordination and balance, it also can burn up to 600 calories an hour.

Got kids or cousins?

Think of children as free weights that talk or a free personal trainer who loves to push you to your mental and physical limits.

Chasing your cousins or your kids through snow burns 6.6 calories per minute. Thirty minutes of trudging back searching for lost hats and mittens burns a surprising 170 calories. A good, solid snowball fight burns 272 calories. Snow angels earn you 154 calories per half-hour. Sledding burns a surprising 450 calories an hour.

Want to take your winter workout to the next level?

Winter Boot Camp lasts only a deceptively short 45 minutes. Why so brief?  At 45 minutes, testosterone peaks. A longer workout offers diminished results and an increase in risk of injury.

The boot camp consists of two components: running and circuit training (see sidebar). Running sounds simple but it is far more difficult in the snow. Circuit training consisting of running, push-ups, squat jumps, and sprints. 

Winter Boot Camp

Warm up:

10 min. active jogging—including shoulder rotations, arm swinging and other upper body stretches.

Circuit:        

Short wind sprint
of no greater than 75 meters

Push ups
sets of 30-40 making sure you drop your nose in the snow.

Jump squats
Squat, legs shoulder-width apart until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Then explode upwards. Do 15 and try to spend as little time as possible on the ground between jumps.

Skipping
Not the grade school variety. Use the same rhythm as a 1st grader but drive your knee up while using both arms to reach for the sky. Do 16 skips.--You are not tired…3 sets, please.

*Between each exercise rest only 30-45 seconds. Between each set rest 4-5 minutes.

Now you can start your 2-mile run. No jogging allowed. Run fast enough that you cannot comfortably speak with your training partner other than to say, “I can’t talk right now.”

That’s it. Short, sweet, and very effective.