Winter is the perfect time of the year to focus on your training and nutrition routine. There are far less events on and reasons to have BBQs and consume alcohol when it’s cooler.

Who wouldn’t want to maintain a fit and healthy body all year round?

Rather than letting go of you’re positive efforts over winter, only to undo all of your hard work to then redo the hard work again before summer!

Good habits should be consistent regardless of the time of the year.

Here are some tips to keep you in momentum as the days start to shorten:

1. Pick a SMART Goal – Specific. Measureable. Attainable. Relevant. Time Bound.

Whether your goal is working toward an event, a holiday, a fun run, a competition, or a fitness or body composition goal, this will give you the destination to type into your GPS!

Break this down into bite size pieces by each month, week, and day. Identify your potential roadblocks in advance so when they show up you know what to do!

2. Organise your week

Figure out when you can fit training into your schedule. Training before work can help to ensure that you get your training in rather than it coming to the end of the day and by then you’ve lost your motivation to show up! Alternatively, going to the gym straight after work rather than home first helps (otherwise you may go home and not be able to motivate yourself to get back up and go).

3. Work out with a friend and/or trainer

It definitely helps to have someone there holding you accountable, someone who is going to push you along and talk you into coming to the gym, you never regret a workout J the hardest part is getting to the gym!

4. Overhaul your Training Program

The body adapts to programming within 4-6 weeks, it might be time to bust that plateau and try a new training program or style. 

5. Overhaul your Nutrition Plan

If you’ve been following the same approach day in and day out for a while now with your eating and your bored, then your body is most likely bored also. Mix it up and make things interesting with some new meal ideas.

6. Prepare food for success

With less partying going on in Winter its easier to have a lazy day around the house with 2 hours of this spent preparing your food for the week, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’ and some nights once you get home from work the last thing you want to do is think about organising your food for the next day.

7. Group Training

Join a group style of training and work your week around that e.g. Small Group PT, Cross Fit or Group Fitness Classes to name a few.  It takes the guesswork out of your weekly training routine and keeps things interesting.

8. Embrace the winter!

Every year winter is going to rock up whether we want it to or not, so why not embrace this time of the year! Perhaps take up a winter sport or find ways to get outside with family and friends on new adventures. 

9. Pack your gym bag the day before

Have your gym bag ready to go the day before, that way if your training in the morning it will give you that little bit of extra time to sleep in, or if your coming straight from work it will ensure you don’t forget your workout shoes.

10. Purchase some new kicks or workout gear

How good does it feel having some fresh new kicks and active wear to show case around the gym! It gives you that extra boost of motivation. Go out and treat yourself to something new, this can also be a good reward for reaching your goals.

Lets hit the beach next summer with even better beach bodies than this year, lets utilise winter rather than going into hibernation, glued to Netflix and eating comfort food!

Thanks for reading,