Up Your Fitness Game This Fall

When the days get shorter and the temperatures colder, heading outside for a workout becomes less and less inviting. However, all strong athletes know that consistency is key when maintaining your fitness level, agility, and muscle mass. Indeed, depending on which State you live in, you may find the autumnal weather provides a welcome respite to arid conditions which leave you short of breath and bring workout sessions to a premature end.

Whatever sport you favor, don’t let your fitness game take a hit as fall approaches. Follow these top tips to up your fitness game this fall.

Work out, whatever the weather

Invest in weather-proof workout apparel to ensure you’ve got the motivation to get out there, even on the wettest, coldest and windiest of days. Many sports brands have a range of lightweight but hardy all-weather clothing, allowing you to maintain a reasonable body temperature, whether you sweat a lot, or not, as well as keeping you protected from the elements.

If you cycle, ensure you’ve purchased kit that’s reflective or has glow-in-the-dark elements to guarantee your safety in dark conditions.

Fuel your fitness

With shorter days comes the temptation to lapse on your healthy eating regime; there’s something about being sat indoors on a rainy day that begs for junk food and overeating. However, a balanced diet and post-workout foods are even more important in these months, when the body will be naturally storing further fat.

Continue to avoid the food groups you know are detrimental to your workout plans, such as meals high in saturated fat, salt, and white sugars, and perhaps try to introduce some more body-building proteins and healthy fats into your weekly intake.

Buddy up

There’s nothing like accountability to motivate you to continue working out in fall and into winter. Partnering up with a workout buddy will encourage you to keep to your routine and targets, even when one of you is tempted to skip a session.

To show you’re truly serious, establish meets up for a fortnight in advance, so you can both plan accordingly and highlight any potential clashes or conflicts of interest. As with all sporting success, the secret to upping your fitness game is preparation, dedication, and then perspiration.

Introduce cross training

You’ll likely want to move your workout more indoors over the fall and winter months, which provides a good opportunity to introduce some new challenges into your normal routine. Any sportsperson worth their salt knows that cross training (that is, complimentary fitness habits) can build strength, stamina, and ability very quickly indeed.

If you tend to spend your time doing body strength conditioning, such as free weights, consider a more aerobic workout to develop your practice. Conversely, if you spend most of your time focusing on speed and agility, you’ll likely find building muscle mass will give you added power in sprint or distance training too.

There truly is no excuse to let your habits go as we move from Summer into Fall; up your dedication, trial some alternative and additional challenges and invest in kit that enables you to work out every day you want between now and next Spring.