Exercise Outdoors on Warmer Winter Days

Bev tells me it was in the 50s in Chicago the other day. A friend of mine in Ohio shared recently that it hit 68 degrees in Cincinnati. Are your snowmen melting too? If so, get yourself outdoors for a warm(er) winter workout.

We get some cool temps here in Florida now and then and as crazy as it might sound to you below-freezing folks, those 40-degree cold mornings definitely drive me indoors, where I often sluff off on the whole exercise thing. But when we registered at 80 the other day, I laced up my sneaks and ran -- and ran, and ran. It was refreshing (well, it was hot, actually, but I like to run in the hot), and by golly, it may help jolt me out of my recent fitness slump.

My friends: Take advantage of any unseasonably warm day you get this winter. Get outside and walk, run, bike, hike -- just get your heart pumping. Go ahead and hibernate on the really cold days if you must. But when winter gives you a break, take it. Take the opportunity to visit AOL Health's America Takes It Off program too -- lots of great diet and fitness tips here.