DENVER (KDVR) – As temperatures drop moving into winter, Coloradans have a variety of ways to stay fit whether they stay inside or brave the cold.
Here are seven ways that you can help maintain physical fitness through the winter months while potentially adopting a new discipline into your life.
Snowboarding and skiing
The state can have 32 ski resorts open at the height of winter if conditions suffice.
According to travel company Crystal Ski, intermediate skiers and snowboarders can burn between 300 and 600 calories in a single hour – take that workout for a four-hour day on the mountain and you’ll burn an average of 1,600 calories.
These downhill winter sports will help tone your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and core giving you a good start toward a summer beach body, if that’s your goal.
Enter the world of amateur curling
Something that may surprise those living in the Denver metro is that there are multiple opportunities across the region that offer up curling classes and leagues to the public, including:
- Rock Creek Curling
- Denver Curling Club
- The Broadmoor Curling Club (Colorado Springs)
If you want to test the waters, a solid opportunity to gauge both the sport of curling and its accompanying atmosphere can be taken in while attending the Colorado Curling Cup set to begin on Oct. 13 at Rock Creek Curling in Lafayette.
In-home stationary bike
With the housing market in Denver being what it is, space is not something that every resident has in large quantities, but if you do have a bicycle-sized whole in your decor then it might be enough.
If you are unwilling to enter the realm of Peloton-like subscription services but still want to adopt the stationary cycling lifestyle, worry not for there is a solution for you.
There is a wide array of bike training equipment that your normal outdoor-roaming bike can be quickly and easily installed onto, transforming it into a bike-sized indoor gym.
Snag a rock climbing gym membership
There are a few gyms across the Front Range that help those addicted to bouldering and facade-scaling manage the few-month stretch where they can’t perform their discipline outdoors.
If you are interested in this sport but are not a seasoned rock climber, there are several entry-level courses at climbing gyms all across the Denver metro, including at:
- The Spot Bouldering Gym
- Denver Bouldering Club Central
- Movement RiNo
- Übergrippen Indoor Climbing Crag
Find a school and adopt a martial art
There is a wide range of martial arts, including Aikido, Muay Thai, Capoeira, Women’s Self-Defense, Kung-Fu, Krav Maga and Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu just to name a few. Simply search online for a school that specializes in the discipline you’re interested in and you are likely to find one near you.
Many of these schools aren’t just aimed at children. If you are looking for a way to stay in shape while simultaneously learning some techniques to improve your mental strength, this might be the physical activity for you.
Indoor sports leagues: Soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc.
Denver, being the heavily populated capital city that it is, has a good amount of indoor leagues that you can sign up for in various sports, including:
- Indoor soccer
- Indoor volleyball
- Indoor basketball
- Bocce
- Dodgeball
- Pickleball
Many of these opportunities include the chance to participate in a coed league. If you are looking for an additional reason to maintain your fitness levels through the winter, perhaps comradery and the chance at striking up new friendships will get you out of your hibernation cave of a home.
Take or teach yoga classes
Adopting this activity as a winterlong habit may lead to it becoming a year-round hobby since little changes between winter and summer when it comes to practicing yoga.
It is nice to perform yoga outside, including at Red Rocks where Yoga on the Rocks is held on a regular basis during warmer months. However, having a location and an instructor to keep you honest about your routine and your efforts is a wonderful addition to any workout program.
Simply search for a yoga studio near you, potentially even within walking distance, so that you have less of a reason to skip workout days.