How do you stay active in a tundra? page

[Beachman]

Mark and the Team, thank you for doing what you do. My buddy and I are big fans.

I'm a pretty healthy guy, (though i want more mass, I'm a little guy) 24 years old, 5' 10", 165lbs., not much fat on me.

(I follow the general primal/paleo model: I eat plants and animals, I take fishy pills, 300mg's of magnesium glycinate at night, D3 4,000IU's, Men's Multi in the morning, occasionally I'll have some probiotic bugs, and some treats like dark chocolate, or macadamias, rare occasion: a drop of honey or dried fruit.)

But, I'm pretty inactive. Not trying to make excuses here, but I find exercise really hard to do because of the weather being so cold.

I love the outdoors, but...I live in a really cold climate this time of year, and I'm wondering how I should handle my inability to go outside.

If I think through "The Lens of Grok," my guess is that he would hibernate or move to a warmer climate most likely. (Maybe I should move.)

But, yeah...how should I handle this one? Do I McGyver a workout in my apartment? I suppose I could buy a 40lb. bag of salt and have fun with that. I'm a college student, with next to no cash (I spend it on food and prevent-meds) and no car.

Any thoughts?

[eKatherine]

How's your fat intake? I feel warmer outside in the cold when I am eating more fat.

[Coach Palfrey]

Here is a shameless plug for you to check out Sandbag Fitness - would be perfect to follow with your bag of salt!

[sbhikes]

The Swedes have a saying: There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.

[Shalimar]

I am outside a lot in the winter. It is my most active season, because i have the time and because I dislike the heat of summer. Skiing and snowshoeing, wonderful stuff! I can be outside in a light jacket, shirt and vest in 15° if I am skiing. SBHikes is right; you need the right clothes. A local ski shop can help you, or looking up info on REI, LLBean or a winter hiking forum. The Appalachian Mountain Club has a lot of info on their site.
Learn to love Winter!

[paul119]

I'd recommend just doing as many bodyweight workouts as you can in the warmth and security of your own home. Try to get in the habit of cranking out a certain number of push-ups/squats/burpees in the morning before hopping in the shower. For someone with your body type, it probably won't take a lot of fitness to stay in maintenance mode - 80% of body comp is what you eat, anyway.

[breetbree]

i love working out in my living room. i use a chair and couch next to eachother for dips, put my hands on the arms of the chairs or anything really to crank out some push ups! and door pull up bar's are really cheap, one of the best fitness investments ive taken!! but for actually outside, make a snowball and keep rolling it as big as you can get it. my friend and i did that in my yard and it was some hard work!!! good luck =)

[EagleRiverDee]

OP- why do have an "inability" to go outside? Is it a physical inability, or do you just not like winter? If the latter, I suggest that as you live in a Northern state, you learn to like winter or migrate south. Winters are too long to hole up inside the entire time, at least I think so. I live in Alaska. Our winters are about 6 months long where I live (October to end of April) and frankly if I didn't get outside I'd go crazy. I continue to hike (established trails tend to be packed down and easily walk-able), I also snowmobile. I have snowshoes that I use occasionally, I think sometimes I might try cross country or nordic skiing (not downhill, too hard on my knees). Sledding can be fun as well. Night hiking in winter can be fabulous- either using a head lamp or better yet on a full moon evening with no head lamp. I get outside for exercise almost every day. If you must stay indoors, I like the Beachbody workouts such as P90X or Insanity. If you subscribe to Mark's theories on chronic exercise than simply do half the tape instead of the whole thing. For me, an hour doesn't seem too bad.

[eKatherine]

But, I'm pretty inactive. Not trying to make excuses here, but I find exercise really hard to do because of the weather being so cold.

I love the outdoors, but...I live in a really cold climate this time of year, and I'm wondering how I should handle my inability to go outside.

Seal blubber.

[Beachman]

Seal blubber.

Haha. Beautiful.

I like the burpees and push ups idea, Ill give that a go. Thank you.

As far as my fat intake is concerned, its all i eat. Some days i need to force myself to eat carbs, i've completely lost the taste for them due to coconut oil and dark chocolate being so good. I made Sisson's dark chocolate bark with macadamia nuts and sea salt, and now its my favorite snack with a whole carrot.

But, something's gotta change and I'm pretty sure its the lack of physical activity. Again, I'm scrawny and getting uncomfortably boney, and I've had a few weird nights with some chest pains and weird symptoms that come and go.

(Again, weighing in at 165lbs, height at 5' 10", age 24, Male.)

I went into the doctor said it wasn't the heart at all. EKG, the whole 9, and the heart was super-healthy, blood pressure was that of an athlete. So, since I'm a grad student with the course load, etc., he called the visit a result of "panic attack(s)" which he told me they can sometimes happen without a cause... and frankly that doesn't add up to me.


I'm more a fan of an "atrophy due to lack of stimulation" explanation. So, sand(salt)bag lifts/squats, burpees, pushups... sounds good.

Thanks Primal Folks,

If you have any other recommendations, please post. Its all helpful.

-Beachman