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Summer is full of opportunities to exercise. After all, it's fun to play beach volleyball. It's fun to go for a bike ride. A game of tennis with friends is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Summer activities can be so much fun, in fact, that they don't seem like exercise at all.

With the shorter days and the cooler temperatures, it's time to re-evaluate some of our activities. There are still some great indoor and outdoor activities to share with friends that provide a level of exercise-bowling, ice skating, roller skating, team sports in the gym such as basketball or volleyball, dancing or indoor track. There are many ways to build your social life around healthful physical activity.

It doesn't take too long, however, before we realize that the colder weather is going to be restrictive on our physical exertion unless we make a conscious effort to fight it. A good way to build a winter exercise routine is with a list of various activities to select from to keep boredom at bay. If you have home exercise equipment, plan on using the elliptical machine, the treadmill, or the home gym to rotate your activities. If you don't have home exercise equipment, check into a membership at the local gym or circuit training facility. The goal here is to find a way to incorporate the use of several pieces of equipment to work different parts of your body while maintaining interest in the process.

Gather a selection of free weights and use a portion of your exercise time to work muscles that may not be getting as much use during the winter months. Concentrate on working particular muscle groups on certain days and rotating to other groups on different days.

A good stretching program will keep you limber and help avoid injury. Rent a video from the local library on Yoga or Pilates and see if the program works for you. Having a "buddy" on tape to exercise along with you can be invigorating and inspiring.

Avoid being totally isolated while exercising-it will lead to boredom and a lose of accountability. All your friends are facing the same problem this winter. Enlist the help of two good friends and see who can reach and maintain their exercise goals the longest. Set up a reward system to add to the fun. For example, the person who best achieves and maintains their exercise routine for a month gets treated to a night at the movies by the other two friends. Next month, change the reward. Don't use food as a reward unless you and your friends are interested in low-fat cooking and can offer a food reward that will not compromise your exercise goals-no trips to the ice cream parlor!

Indoor fitness can be every bit as enjoyable as the summer fun activities you had previously been enjoying. All it takes is determination, imagination, a goal and a friend or two to make the winter months fun, healthy and rewarding.

Learn more about this author, Leann Zotis.
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