Our glorious holiday season has wrapped up as December shifts to the beginning of January. Historically, January offers grey and cloudy skies. Peering out the window, we aren’t granted the bright blue sky and warm days we get in spring and summer. The cold, foggy morning brings us consistent bouts of rain. Bleak wet environments are the most desirable to venture outside to for most humans. As these conditions repeat for a series of days, our outlook on the world can drop along with the temperature of this chilly, grey season.
Staying indoor can trigger harboring of emotions. Similar to when we get outside to move around and get some sunshine to put a smile on our face, lack of movement can stress us out, make us mopey, and influence a negative outlook on our days. Being cooped up inside can put our thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a hazy realm where we can muster over recurring thoughts. If we could only have a warm sunny day to go out for a hike, frolicking in the garden, or walk our dogs without getting drenched. Unfortunately, with wet gray, gloomy days, these activities aren’t so enticing. Additionally, if the body doesn’t move, our physical activity becomes stagnant, yet the mind still wanders. Along with the cold gloomy days and lack of movement, our minds can match this environment to produce cold and gloomy thoughts.
Fortunately, the human body is an amazing organism capable of adapting demotivating and psychological immobilizing environments. By exercising, the body produces amazing adaptations to counter the lack of sunlight brought to us by the early January climate. Regular exercise promotes mood enhancing endorphins and offers a sense of accomplishment at the conclusion to bouts of regular exercise as a gift to the body. Alongside the physiological adaptation of gaining strength, improving balance, and managing calorie intake, exercise also serves as an advanced form of meditation. Outside of exercise, there aren’t many instances in which time is devoted specifically to our ourselves where our busy minds get put on hold so we can tend to ourselves. Additionally, exercises promotes the ability for our bodies to get a better night’s sleep. Therefore, while it’s January is blowing its cold air on us, we can at least get some much-needed sleep and be happy and fit for the sunny days in the future. The solution to depressing outdoor cold weather is exercising. So why not get some exercise indoors where the climate is well lit, dry, and warm.
Some simple exercises we recommend to our personal training clients to do indoors are squats, planks, and pushups. Here are some instructions on how to do execute them:
Zombie Squat: We call this exercise a zombie squat because we instruct clients to keep their hands out in front of them as they were a zombie from Night of the Living Dead. To perform, extend hands out in front of the body to where the hand is elevated below the collar bones. While keeping the chest and head upright, point the toes forward and sit your hips down and back until you feel a brief stretch in the glute and hip flexor region. Ensure to keep the pressure on the heels. Pay special attention to ensuring the heels don’t come off the ground or to let the arches of the feet collapse in. Repeat for 3 sets of 5-10 repetitions.
Straight Arm Plank: Position your body face down while on your knees. Straighten the arms our so your elbows are extended, and you are posting on your arms. With the core tight, straighten your legs out and hold this position for 15-30 seconds. Be mindful not to let the lower back sag like a rickety bridge from the Indiana Jones movie. Perform 3 sets of this movement.
Push Up: With the same starting position that you had from the plank, lower your body to where the elbows just cross the border of the back of the body, then push the body up to the straight arm plank position. Ensure that the knees stay extended. Avoid injuries to the shoulder by decreasing the amount elevation traveled toward the ground. If there are sensations of pinching, uncomfortable pain, go with the less is more principle. Decrease the amount of movement traveled by descending a quarter of the way to the ground. Once you feel comfortable with your strength, perhaps you can progress by increasing the amount of distance traveled downward on each push up movement. This movement can also be done from an inclined surface to modify the difficulty level. Repeat this movement for 5-10 repetitions for 3 sets.
The body is capable of reversing the quintessential raining day blues. All we need is ourselves, the ground, and few minutes to move. Pick a few indoor exercises that can be completed indoor. Get the body prepared for the sunny days so we can soak in the sun and be active.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
