As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, one of the first fitness goals I set for myself a few years ago when I wanted to get back into shape was to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

Reaching this goal was much easier for me in the beginning when the weather was nice. A long, leisurely walk in autumn or spring could easily get me halfway or more to my goal before I even realized what was happening.

The cold season was an entirely different story, though. It was difficult at first to find ways to stay active when the streets were covered in icy slush and the outside temperatures were frigid.

This is a tricky time of year even now that my daily goal is much higher than 10,000 steps. With winter only about five weeks away, it’s time to start dusting off some of these tips again and preparing to stay active indoors until spring arrives again.

Today I wanted to share some of the tricks I’ve discovered over the last few years that help me reach my step count goals even when the weather is frightful. I hope that you’ll find them helpful, too. Let me know in the comment section below what you think of them.

Break Big Shopping Trips Into Smaller Ones

The cool thing about aiming for a specific step count goal is that every single step you take counts toward it. You definitely do not have to break a sweat every time you want to add to your tally.

One of the things I liked to do when I first started counting my steps was to chop up big grocery shopping trips into smaller excursions. I might have picked up milk, produce, and canned goods on Monday, and then gone back to the store on Tuesday for bread, meat, and frozen stuff.

It especially helps if you don’t shop for stuff that is all located in the same area of the store for that day’s trip! If you’re able to stick to your shopping list, this can be a great way to increase your step counts while still staying within your food budget.

Depending on how close your store is to your home and how many aisles you walk up and down, you could add several hundred to several thousand steps every day.

Go to the Mall

Malls are temperature-controlled, well-lit, and usually pretty safe places to visit.

There are almost always many other people around, especially at this time of year when the Christmas shopping season is starting to pick up speed.

While I strongly prefer to exercise outdoors, I can’t deny the fact that malls give people a convenient and casual gathering place if they’re looking to add more steps to their step counter or do some window shopping.

I know people who absolutely love walking around in this environment as well. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend doing it once if you live near a mall.

You may love it. You may be like me and not enjoy it so much. The only way to know for sure is to give it a shot, though.

This usually add two or three thousand steps to my count.

Pace Around While Doing Chores

If you’re waiting for a pot of water to start bubbling, walk around in circles in the kitchen.

If you’re waiting for the washing machine to buzz so you can switch your clothing over to the dryer, walk back and forth at your laundromat or in your basement until it’s finished.

If you’re vacuuming, dance a little jig to add in a few extra steps when you turn the corner or pull the vacuum to another room.

These are only a few of the many ways to add small amounts of movement int your life while you’re doing other things that also need to be accomplished.

They might not seem like they’d add up to much individually, but I’ve been surprised by how much they add up at the end of the day.

I generally add one thousand to three thousand steps to my tally on the days when I use this trick.

Walk to a TV Show

This is by far my biggest tip for people who seriously want to increase their step count but who’ve come to the end of their day without getting as much accomplished as they’d hoped.

Be sure to put down a yoga mat or something similar to that if you have hardwood floors before you try this one.

What I do is I march in place while watching whatever show it is that I’ve been looking forward to seeing today. You can do it as slowly or as quickly as you desire.

At a slow march, I can add three or four thousand steps this way in forty minutes or so. If I pick up the speed, I can double that number.

The right show will suck me into the storyline so completely that I barely even notice that I’m walking at the same time.

Respond

What are some of your favourite ways to add more movement in your day when the weather outdoors isn’t great?

Growing up, I was one of those kids who deeply disliked gym class. I was small for my age and not naturally athletic in the least. While it was good for me to have the chance to discover that organized team sports weren’t my thing, it took years for me to figure out what kinds of exercise I actually did enjoy.

One of my biggest reasons for disliking gym class back then was that I find many vigorous forms of exercise to be downright painful. Jogging hurts my joints. Running up and down a field over and over again while trying to catch or kick a ball makes my lungs feel like they’re on fire. Smacking a hard volleyball against my arms is pretty uncomfortable as well. I’m not a masochist, so the idea of doing any of this stuff routinely for the sake of my health – much less for fun – was and is completely unappealing.

(This isn’t to say that you should avoid any or all of these activities! They may work beautifully for you regardless of what my heart, lungs, and joints think of them).

Moderate exercise is a different story for me. I’ll get a little winded on a brisk walk, when weightlifting, or while dancing, but their brief discomforts never tip the scale into actual pain. Not having to dread all of that pain has gone a long way to helping me actually enjoy being active.

One of the first workouts I started a few years ago was incredibly simple. I’d walk in place on top of a yoga mat while watching TV shows. It was something I chose because I really enjoy outdoor walks but couldn’t do one of those that day due to some terrible weather we were having in Toronto.

The only rule I set for myself was that I couldn’t stop moving until the show had ended. This is still something I fall back on when I’m feeling totally unmotivated to do anything physical at all. It’s easy to get so involved in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that I forget I’m moving at all. Sometimes I even decide to keep walking in place for just one more episode so that I can find out what happens to the characters next.

Trying a lot of different types of workouts has helped me to figure out what I actually like. A few years ago I never would have guessed that I’d love weightlifting, but it’s turned out to be a wonderful fit for me. There’s something immensely satisfying about being able to lift bags, furniture, and other objects that were once too heavy for you. It’s also fascinating to see your body slowly change its shape as a result of these kinds of workouts.

I’m planning to give yoga a try in the next week or two. I have no idea if I’ll love it or hate it, but I can’t wait to find out either way!

There are times when I enjoy the same routine so much that I keep doing it for weeks on end without making any adjustments at all. Would I be more physically fit if I challenged myself as soon as my current workouts are no longer quite so challenging? Yes, but that isn’t the only reason why I exercise. I’m not in this to become a body builder or a bikini model. I simply want to take good care of my body, and sometimes that means sticking to the same old stuff for a while until I’m emotionally and physically ready to try something new.

Completely cutting out any form of competition has helped me to learn to love exercise as well. Dividing people into winners and losers instantly kills my desire to play whatever game it is that’s been thrown together. The only people I exercise with are the ones who agree that whatever we’re doing is all strictly for fun. There’s no trash talking or keeping score when I’m involved, although I don’t have a problem watching other people be playfully competitive with each other if they enjoy that sort of thing!

What kinds of exercise do you like? What new kinds of exercise are you hoping to try in the near future? If you weren’t always a fan of it, how did you change your mind?