Win­ter out­door cross-​​training

Any sea­son is good for cross-​​training, but win­ter affords fan­tas­tic cross-​​training oppor­tu­ni­ties that no other sea­son can offer. And a huge ben­e­fit of win­ter activ­i­ties is that so many of them are family-​​friendly. So when there’s snow on the ground, make sure you take advan­tage of it and get your whole fam­ily outside!

Down­hill ski­ing and snowboarding

Ski­ing and snow­board­ing are both great for work­ing leg mus­cles that don’t usu­ally get much atten­tion when you run. You may not feel par­tic­u­larly winded after a run down the slopes, but you are def­i­nitely work­ing those leg mus­cles — espe­cially your thighs! Make sure you take your fam­ily along with you and enjoy the slopes together. Just because you’re a bet­ter skier than your kids doesn’t mean you can’t ski with them. Unlike run­ning, which is con­stant for­ward motion, down­hill ski­ing tends to be bursts of activ­ity with rests in-​​between. So if you make it down a part of the slope before your kids, take a break. Watch them come down after you, or enjoy the scenery. Fam­ily days out on the slopes are guar­an­teed to be fun, and you’re build­ing mem­o­ries for your kids that they will always treasure.

Cross-​​country skiing

Cross coun­try, or Nordic, ski­ing is a favorite among dis­tance run­ners. You’ll def­i­nitely get your heart rate up and will enjoy a very vig­or­ous work­out, espe­cially if you’ve got a few uphill slopes to bat­tle through. If you’re new to cross-​​country ski­ing, make sure that you don’t dress as warmly as you would for down­hill ski­ing. You won’t be sit­ting still on a lift freez­ing, so you can wear much lighter lay­ers. In fact, I would rec­om­mend dress­ing like you would for a run — just make sure you have water­proof pants or leg­gings. Begin­ners should start out on a flat course. The down­hills take some get­ting used to, so you’ll want to get com­fort­able on your skis before attempt­ing them. You can also bring your fam­ily for an out­ing together! Just make sure to take rest stops to let the slower fam­ily mem­bers catch up. Remem­ber, when you’re try­ing to have fun as a fam­ily while doing some­thing healthy — you don’t want to leave your kids or your spouse behind! Save the Olympic effort for when you’re out solo.

Snow­shoe­ing

Snow­shoe­ing is a fab­u­lous way to keep run­ning no mat­ter how deep the snow gets! And, no, I don’t mean on those wooden and string things that you see in the movies. Run­ning snow­shoes are light­weight, stream­lined, and built for speed. (OK, maybe not for speed…)

You’ll find that you will need to mod­ify your gait a lit­tle so you don’t stum­ble over your snow­shoes. It may feel clumsy at first, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly. You’ll also want to make sure you have the right gear — heavy or clunky snow­shoes can be very frustrating.

This snow­shoe­ing arti­cle from active​.com has some great infor­ma­tion to get you started.

Sled­ding

Of course the most family-​​friendly way to cross train is sled­ding! You’ve prob­a­bly never viewed sled­ding as cross-​​training (and may not have even tried it since you were a kid), but if you get out there with your kids and spend a few hours trudg­ing uphill after each thrilling ride down, then you’ll really be feel­ing it the next day. Besides, your kids will get a kick out of see­ing Dad or Mom try to fit on one of those lit­tle plas­tic discs, slide down the hill, and wipe out in a cloud of white pow­der. If you’re at a loss for nearby sled­ding, look for a golf course. They usu­ally have lots of hills and rolling ter­rain, even in areas that are largely flat.

By includ­ing your fam­ily in these fun win­ter activ­i­ties, not only will you get a good cross-​​training work­out but you will also help your fam­ily stay fit while all hav­ing fun together. And when you’re done, you can all share some hot choco­late while laugh­ing about Dad’s huge wipe-​​out!

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