By Carol Shuford, certified personal trainer and Ironman athlete

One of my clients told me today-”oh well, it’s going to snow two feet this weekend, can’t get to the gym, so I guess there is nothing else to do but sit inside and eat!” Not true!!  You CAN get in some kind of workout at home with little or no equipment! Most of us spend more time figuring out how many batteries, rolls of toilet paper, gallons of milk we need for the impending storm rather than how we will get in some type of activity while stuck inside.

I recommend spreading the activity out during the day into 3 workouts of 20 minutes so you don’t become too much of a lump and possibly prevent overreating. So in between movies, board games, naps fit this in and you will have an hour of exercise under your belt! Of course this can also work for a rainy day for those lucky souls who aren’t buried in snow!!

**Start each workout with 1 minute each of jumping jacks, jogging in place with high knees, and jumps from side to side (like you are skiing) . Modify to steps or marching if you can’t jump- just get your heart pumping!

Do one minute each of the following exercises with 30 second rest in between. First time-  write down how many repetitions you do of each exercise. Second time- challenge yourself to do atleast one more repetition than the first time. Third time- well, you get it. However, never sacrifice form for speed!

1.  Body weight squats- hold arms out in front, feet shoulder width apart, lower your body to 90 degrees, then press back up to standing!

2. Staggered push-ups- one hand on a phone book , other on floor- either on knees or toes -perform a push up.

3. Squat thrusts- stand with feet together , place hands of floor, legs in squat position- explosively push your legs back into pushup position, jump feet back between hands and stand back up- that’s one!

4. Dips- two chairs needed-place about 3 feet apart- put your heels in one and hands palms down in other gripping edge. Lower your body so it clears the chair and elbows at 90 degrees- keep your core tight!!

5. Inverted push-ups- place feet on a chair or sofa, hands out in front. Creep your hands back so that head is between hands, body in a “v” shape. Lower your arms to 90 degrees, press up until your arms are straight.

6. Jump lunges- stand in a lunge position, one leg if front of the other, bend knees and jump up and switch lead legs. Step and switch if you prefer.

7.Shadow Boxing - grab two soup cans and pretend to box- upper cuts , jabs whatever- each hit counts as one. Don’t forget to move your feet too!

8. Mountain climbers- get down in sprinters start, hands directly under shoulders, run in place, keeping hips down and low to work your core.

9. Oblique abs- sit with legs bent, lean back slightly to engage abs. Sweep one arm back behind you in half circular motion, return to start, switch arms.

10. Supermans- face down like superman flying- lift feet and hands (not head and neck) using your lower back muscles then lower back down .

11. Single leg pick ups- stand on one leg, place any object in front of you, bend knee and pick up object, stand up, then bend knee again and put object back down. 30 seconds on each leg!

12. Side bridges- on side , elbow on ground, feet stacked, lift and lower hip without touching ground. 30 seconds each side.

Of course , a 20 minute snowball fight could also count…Just get moving, you will feel better once you can dig out and back to reality!!!