The COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the gyms across the U.S. and while many of them are reopening, a lot of people are a little nervous about exposure. This winter getting in some exercise is still very possible if you workout in your house.

With the colder weather setting in and the days growing shorter it may be hard to find time to walk, run, or participate in other outdoor exercise activities but that does not mean you should stop exercising. It means you will have to workout in your house instead. These tips will help you to get your house ready for your winter workouts.

You Can Make Excuses Or You Can Make Changes

About 40% to 45% of adults make New Year resolutions. Often those resolutions are based on losing weight, getting healthy, improving nutrition, and adding in some exercise to their daily lives. Sadly, about 80% of the people that make resolutions do not keep them.

Has COVID-19 made it harder than ever to stick to your “healthy you” resolutions? You betcha, but you can make it work. There are benefits when you workout in your house that can actually help you to stick to your resolutions and make those lifestyle changes you need to make including adding exercise to your daily life.

With a few changes your home can become an easy place to workout. Here are some benefits when you workout in your house:

• You never have to worry about who you are going to run into. You can work out in your underwear if you want. You do not have to worry about seeing anyone and how you look when you see them.
• Once you get your house ready to workout in, you do not have to pay monthly fees. Gym memberships can get expensive. Workout in your house and save.
• You can workout in your house any time of the day or night. You do not have to be on someone’s schedule to get a workout in.

You can make excuses when it comes to working out this winter, or you can make some changes and take advantage of all the conveniences of working out at home.

Follow a few simple tips and your house will be ready for your wintertime workouts in no time. Of course, once you get your house ready for your workouts you do not have to just use it during the winter, you can use it year-round.

Start With the Basics

The first thing you want to do to prepare your home to work out in this winter is to pick your space. Any space will do but if you can make a dedicated space that would be even better. Having a dedicated space for your workouts will help to trigger your brain and tell it that you are getting ready to work out when you enter the space.

A lot of people use their garage as their dedicated workout space. Getting your garage in shape is relatively simple, of course, once you get rid of some of the clutter and move the cars into their new home in the driveway.

You do not have to do anything major in the garage to turn it into a great workout space. You do want to make sure that:

• The garage is safe for you to workout in. A faulty garage door can be an accident waiting to happen. Garage door repair services are an affordable option to ensure that space is safe. Of course, getting the garage door fixed does not just benefit your workouts, it benefits the value and safety of your home.
• You have a heating or a cooling source. You do not have to run heat from the house to the garage but you do want a way to keep things warm. A portable heater can be a great solution.
• You will need workout mats for the floors. Most garage floors are cement and you do not want to be jumping up and down and exercising on cement. Shin splints are a real thing and so are accidental falls and tumbles.

Safety has to be a priority. Safety does include having the garage at an appropriate temperature. If your garage tends to fluctuate in temperature dramatically, you may want to contact HVAC services to run ductwork to the garage so that you can control the climate. If you can afford to have your garage heated, then go for it.

If winter in your region still means hot weather, then be sure to hire AC repair services for your home and even your garage. These cooling options will be key in making sure you don’t overheat during your workout.

If you don’t have a garage or the rest of the family is throwing a fit at the idea of not being able to keep the cars in the garage, what can you do? It is okay, there are other spaces around the house that you can use to workout in your house.

Making the Best of Small Spaces

You do not need standard gym equipment to workout in your house which means you do not need tons of room to workout in your house. You can easily transform very small spaces into spaces to work out in.

For example a corner of the bedroom can easily hold a yoga mat, some free weights, and some exercise bands. Tune into Youtube and follow one of the exercise gurus that are offering free at-home workout classes and you can get easily exercise yourself to good health in the smallest of spaces.

You may be thinking “what do I do with all the exercise equipment when I am not using it?” there is an easy answer. Most exercise equipment can be stored right under the bed and won’t take up any of your indoor storage space.

To make a small space work you can follow these tips:

• Instead of taking up floor space with exercise equipment lookup. Vertical space is largely unused potential storage space. Hooks can easily be installed on a wall to hang all types of exercise equipment. Shelving can be a good friend when you need a space to stash exercise bands or light free weights.
• Make the space feel official. Hang a mirror so you can see yourself during the workout just like in the gym. Don’t use the space for anything other than working out, even if it is just the corner of a room.
• Invest in a good mat system. Cushioning underfoot is important don’t skimp on the mat quality.

You do not need a sweeping space to workout in your house, but you do need some basic equipment to get the job done. Hand barbells, exercise bands, and access to exercise videos will make the process easier.

If you want to be sure that you do not mess up your carpets, make sure you cover the floor space where you will be working out. Professional carpet cleaning can take care of any small mishaps but you want to be sure that you are preventing any big problems. Exercise mats can mar your carpet when left unchecked for too long. Every once in a while move things around a bit to ensure that the mat does not stay too long in any one spot.

What About Outdoors?

Maybe you had some forethought and incorporated a pool house into your outdoor living design. Since you will not be using the pool in the winter, unless your pool is heated, you can convert your pool house into a workout space.

If you are lucky enough to have a heated pool, get some pool maintenance done and incorporate your pool into your at-home workout regime. Swimming is a great form of exercise.

How can you convert outdoor buildings into a place to workout in your house? A pool house is not the only outdoor structure that can be converted a bit to work out this winter. A shed, barn, or other outdoor structure can easily become the place you get your workouts in. If you do not mind the cold too much or if it does not get that cold where you live, make use of your lawn. Just be sure that you get organic lawn service so that your yard stays in tip-top shape.

What do you need to do to take advantage of the outdoor spaces? Follow these tips:

• If you have your eye on your shed or your barn all you need to do is either move the clutter to one side or rehome the clutter to another section of the house. You can workout among the stored items in your shed or barn, or if you are really committed, move it all out to a new location. Get organized and you will be amazed at how much space you can free up in the outdoor building to workout in your house.
• You will need a heat source. If it does get super cold where you live, you will need some source of heat. A portable heater can do the trick. If you are literally going to be outdoors on the lawn or in the back yard, maybe a fire pit can help to keep things warmer.
• If you have the space in your outdoor structures an exercise bike or a treadmill would be a great investment. If you normally run in the warmer months, buying a treadmill would be a good investment. Other equipment to consider includes a weight bench, free weights, exercise bands, and of course you will need some exercise mats.

As you evaluate your home for spaces that you can workout at your house, you are going to be surprised that you did not see all the potential before. Auditing your spaces with a purposeful eye will help you to find the perfect space to workout in your house with little investment and time.

Also, you can use your neighborhood as your gym if your climate allows for it and you don’t live in a very populated location. Invest in some custom bicycles for you and your family and take rides around the block every night. Or go jogging with your dog every afternoon on the neighborhood’s sidewalks. There are plenty of places to exercise in the outdoors while staying safe during the pandemic.

I Live In an Apartment, How Do I Workout At Home?

Okay, not everyone lives in a house. Some people, actually quite a few people, live in an apartment. If you live in a studio apartment you may be looking around and thinking these tips are not for me and there is no way I can work out at home.

You are wrong. Yes, it can be a little more of a challenge to workout in your house when you live in a small apartment but it is a challenge that can be overcome. Following these tips can help you to work out in your apartment:

• Use the vertical space. Do not let a lack of floor space give you the excuse you need not to be working out. There is equipment that can be installed in the vertical space in your apartment. A chin-up positioned in the door frame, a pulley system with tension bands installed over the door, and other equipment meant to take up zero floor space can be just the ticket.
• If you have a bed you have a space to get equipment out of the way for the rest of the day. There is a wide range of exercise equipment options that fold flat for easy storage. You simply pull out the equipment, use it, and slide it right back under the bed.
• Use the stairs. If you live in an elevated building, use the stairs. Run up and down your stairs to get a workout in.

Size matters sometimes but not when it comes to pushing your workout agenda. No matter how small or large your home is you can find a way to work out there this winter. There are plenty of ways you can get your house ready for the winter so you can workout in your house and stick to that resolution you made at the beginning of the year. Don’t let weather or a pandemic keep you from your goals. Make some simple changes around the house and you will have a great space to get your exercise in.

Remember you can make excuses or you can make changes. Make the changes and fulfill the promise that you made to yourself to workout this year. Workout in your house and take control of what you can control.