When it rains...

It's raining outside. Which annoys me because I can't really go on my daily 90 minute walk. And i don't have a treadmill or a gym membership...

What does everyone do when the weathers bad outside? I try to exercise every day but it's getting into winter now in Australia....which means cold weather, rain, hail, thunderstorms...

Suggestions?

Hi,

One option for me is using cardio type DVD's. I do those, although some require equipment....just make sure if you decide to get any DVD that they don't need any equipment OR that you have OOOR that it comes with it. I have a Billy Blanks workout DVD and it sure did make me sweat :)

Good luck!

Isabelle-  When it's raining outside, I say go for it!  I looooove running in the rain and snow!  Something about it is really invigorating and it makes me feel like I'm hardcore. :)  Obviously I wouldn't do it if it were pouring, hailing, or lightening/thundering, and I  wouldn't do it in the road, only on sidewalks.  Walking in the rain for an hour and a half may be a little tedious, though, so I don't know if it would be an option you'd consider.

Do you guys have FitTV in Australia?  We have a channel here in the States that has aerobics, yoga, and weights shows that come on periodically throughout the day.  If you don't have a channel like that, maybe you could invest in some workout DVDs for the winter months. 

Thanks guys :) haha that's true about running in the rain. When I was walking last night it ended up raining and I was ages away from home, so I ran back... the first couple of minutes are tough because it's freezing but once you warm up you feel sort of invinsible.... good point

I don't have a tv channel with that kind of stuff on it..but the dvds are a good idea too. I was also thinking stuff like skipping, and maybe other cardio activities that don't take up too much room..

Try jumping rope.  A jump rope is very inexpensive and it's an awesome workout.  Try some intervals -- you can very the work/recovery ratio depending on your fitness level.  Some ideas:  Warm up by jumping rope at a RPE (rate of perceived exertion) of about 3-5 on a scale from 1-10 (1 being idle; 10 being all out effort) for 2 minutes or so; do intervals -- jump rope as fast as you can for say, 30 seconds (RPE - 7-9); recover for 1 minute at an easy pace (RPE 5-6)-- you get the idea.  Try mixing up your steps:  two footed jumps; right foot only; left foot only; alternating right and left.  As tough of a workout as it is, it's really a lot of fun.  Since you're at home on your own, you won't care if you mess up -- no one will see you :).  Jumping rope is very tough cardio exercise, however, so if you're not used to it, it may feel incredibly hard at first, but you will adapt -- just vary your work/recovery times to suit your fitness level.  You'll torch calories and have some fun.

You can also do walking lunges (with shoulder presses, too...if you do these long enough you'll feel the burn in your shoulders without even using weights!  or just grab a broom stick or something), jumping squats and squat thrusts, jumping jacks, pushups, crunches, and a variety of other exercises that will get you going without being outside. :)
   

Buy yourself a 'Walk away the Pounds' DVD or two... they're a pretty good workout and you can get whichever one you think fits your general fitness level. I like the fact that she also works your upper body with handweights as well as walking.

Glad I found this thread because I'm in the same boat. I was just about to go for a run when all of a sudden I hear thunder and hear it starting to pour. :(

Great ideas everyone. I would totally jump rope right now but there are so many people in my house right now it would actually be pretty embarassing. I might wait another hour, since storms tend to clear up pretty fast.

Another thing I do when the weather sucks is just plug in my ipod and dance around like crazy until I'm exhausted. That probably makes me sound totally nuts, but it's definitely a work out.