Fun Indoor Physical Activities
Oh the weather outside may be frightful, but exercising indoors can be delightful. Don't let cold or rain deter you from a great workout or physical activities, even if you don't have exercise equipment. At your home or other location, you can create many fun activities for kids and adults.
Use household items to create fun, indoor activities. (Image: Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images)Station Training
Add variety to workouts with station training. This works well with groups, since you'll all do the same stations. Create a station of resistance workouts using dumbbells, resistance bands or soda or milk bottles filled with water. Do curls, squats, lunges, rows and kickbacks. Add a cardio station, performing five or more minutes of jumping jacks, jump rope, high knee skipping or jogging in place. Run hills using your stairs. Create a bodyweight station, with push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, pull-ups and chair dips.
Cross Training
Create a triathlon if you have access to a full-service fitness center. Start with a swim, then move to an exercise bike, finishing with work on a treadmill. Warm up before you start your "race," and cool down and stretch afterward. To ensure you get the workout you want, break each leg of your course into minutes, rather than laps or miles, the speed of which you may not be able to determine.
Video Games
Video makers are getting couch potatoes on their feet and shaking it with a variety of sports games designed to create a workout. You can play sports such as tennis, or dance to your favorite music. You may be able to rent these programs or check them out for free at your library.
TV Workouts
A number of television networks offer fitness programs. You can choose from a traditional or step aerobic workout, belly dancing, yoga, body sculpting and other formats. These programs usually have a host who explains the exercises, shows how to do them at beginner and advance levels, and with or without equipment.
Mini-Sports
If you have access to an indoor area with a high roof, you can play a slower version of volleyball using a portable net or two poles with a rope for a net, and a big beach ball. The bigger, lighter ball keeps games going longer and increases calories burned. If you like tennis, invest in a short court, foam balls and small rackets for fun and fitness. Kids love the small equipment that lets them hit successfully and keep the ball in play. Adults, both beginner and advanced players, enjoy the challenge and competition of trying to end points with slower balls in a limited area.
CardioTennis
If you have an indoor tennis facility near you, see if it offers CardioTennis. These classes are designed for fun, with music, fast-paced drills and social interaction. CardioTennis is a national program many clubs are using. Visit the CardioTennis website to find a program near you.
