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This question was recently asked, and I thought what a great question considering that I'm here in Ohio and see snow on the ground.  For many people, paying for a monthly gym membership or personal training membership isn't an option.  Any other season causes no problems, but when it's 10 degrees outside, let's be honest, who really wants to exercise then? 

Some don't mind; personally, I've run in zero degree weather when training for a race, but right now, considering that I'm not training for anything, exercising outside is one of the last things I want to do.  There's always the treadmill option or the elliptical, if you have one at home; but what if you don't have one, and what about other areas of fitness like resistance training?  If you don't have a gym membership, don't have workout equipment in your basement, and it's too cold to muster up the energy to be active outside, what's one to do?

Here's my suggestion.  Obviously, if you have the equipment at home, use it, instead of letting it collect dust, but if you don't, here are some of the choices you have.

You can go up to your local high school and workout.  Just the other day, my wife and I exercised in a school.  We wanted to workout in the gymnasium, but the basketball teams were using all of them.  So what did we do?  We exercised in the hallway outside of the gym.  Nobody ever said you needed equipment to get a good workout, and if someone tells you that, they're wrong and you shouldn't take advice from them.  We did all kinds of bodyweight exercises and different drills in a 20-meter hallway.  We stayed warm, it was free, and we got a great workout.  It's that simple!

If you live by a college, that's a great option for exercise.  Tons of buildings with hallways and gymnasiums too.

Here's another suggestion.  The mall.  Yeah, it might be kind of weird to be doing pushups and lunges with shoppers everywhere, but what about walking.  I've gone to the mall before for the simple reason of having a place to walk.  It's not much, but it was a way for me to get some activity.  Here's the thing, though.  Go to the mall first thing in the morning.  Do you know anybody that goes to the mall to shop at 7AM when stores aren't open?  OK, that was a trick question, but you get my point.  Go to the mall early in the morning like this when all the people that are in the mall at that time of day are people exercising.  Don't believe me?  Check out when the mall closest to me opens.  If you do this, then you have a great place to work out, do drills, walk, etc. 

Another suggestion ... your church.  A lot of churches have gymnasiums, and if not, all churches have hallways.  Go there during the week and exercise.  I've even played volleyball at my church.

And last, but not least, your home.  Remember, staying fit or becoming fit doesn't require fancy equipment.  All you need is a little space, your body weight, and some creativity, and you'll be on your way to staying active during these next few cold winter months. 

Dan Falkenberg, BA, ACE-CPT, NASM-PES

Dan Falkenberg is the cofounder of Your Live Trainers.  He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.

If you want some extra help this New Year, I just released my first-ever downloadable training program called the Fat Dissolver Program; it features over 50 of the exercises I use with my own clients.  You can download them to your computer, watch them on your iPod/iPhone, or turn them into two DVDs of your own.  Make sure you check them out today, and don't miss my 20% off special! 

Tags: cardiovascular exercise, exercise selection, weight loss