Soldiering through the winter doldrums

The weather report is calling for a solid dumping of snow later today, so I'm gearing up for the possibility of being snowed in this evening. Schools and businesses have already been closed in anticipation for the horrendous weather, making me wonder if my gym will also follow suit.

The good news is that there are always ways to get some exercise in, and good, old fashion manual labor is certainly one of them. Shoveling snow for an hour will burn 400 calories, which is far more than the same amount of time spent on walking on a treadmill would. Just be careful to lift the snow-filled shovel mostly with your legs and torso, and to also turn your body to dump the snow instead of trying to throw it over your shoulder. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself and extend your time away from the gym even further.

Once you're finally done outside, shoveling out your driveway and cleaning off your car, you can always head back in and follow any of these simple ways to burn 100 calories from inside your house.