Staying Active During the Winter

Sticking to an exercise regimen or fitness plan is much easier when the weather is nice and you can hit the road or trails to run and bike. However, in the winter, it gets a lot more difficult. You have to be a lot more dedicated and get creative to keep it up. These strategies will keep you moving through the winter:

Strength Training

Being stuck inside isn't an excuse to skip your strength training, nor is being squeezed in a small space. You don't need oversized exercise equipment to build muscle over the winter - you can make use of free weights to effectively work on your strength. If you are in a one bedroom apartment or dorm room, you can still do bodyweight exercises to burn calories and strength train.

House Work

Most people wait until spring to do a big round of cleaning or tackle home projects like refinishing a piece of furniture or redecorating a room. While you're stuck inside during the winter, why not cross a few of those off the list so you can have more fun when it gets warmer? Surprisingly, you can actually burn a lot of calories working on home projects! Exercising and improving your home? Now that's a win-win!

Kinect

The Xbox Kinect is a great way to stay active because there is a wide array of fitness games that make working out fun. The Kinect can also turn working out into a social activity. Friends and family members can join you and square off in games that pit your agility and endurance against each other in head to head battles. And when you're not working out, you can enjoy other interactive games for fun.

Cross Country Skiing, Snowshoeing or Fat Biking

If you really feel like you need to get out of the house to work out but don't necessarily want to drive in the snow to a nearby ice rink, ski slope or other winter fitness destination, you can always invest in equipment to workout on your own street or in your own yard. Cross country skis, snowshoes or a fat bike will let you workout right from your front steps. Each of these pieces of equipment can be used on un-groomed paths to add a sense of adventurous fun to your workout.

No matter how you choose to get moving this winter, stick with it. Your body will thank you for it in the spring!

Have any suggestions or secret tricks in your workout arsenal that you want to share? Tell us in the comments below!

Top Ninja Holiday Gifts

Looking for a gift for the ninja in your life? Look no further! These gifts will delight both amateur and pro ninja warriors:

Gym Membership

Your ninja probably already has a gym membership, so paying for a few months is a thoughtful gift that he/she is sure to love. If your ninja doesn't have a gym membership yet, look for one that offers classes and other perks for members.

Bonus: Many gyms run membership specials over the holidays, so you can usually get a great deal on a new membership.

Fitness Wristband

Wearable technology is all the rage right now, and for good reason! Fitness tracking bands are a convenient way to track all of your daily exercise - helping your ninja to set and achieve even more fitness goals.

Bonus: These fitness bands look really cool, so this gift will bring the "wow factor."

Kettlebells

Kettlebell workouts are a great way to build strength and they can be modified for all fitness levels. Professional grade kettlebells are most cost effective than other weights as well. Look for a good all-purpose kettlebell set to let your ninja progress in his/her workout.

Bonus: Many online retailers offer free shipping during the holidays, which is a huge money saver when you are having a gift this heavy shipped!

Home Improvement Gift Cards

If your ninja has been thinking about building his/her own training obstacles or American Ninja Warrior mini course, a gift card to Lowe's, Home Depot or another home improvement store will help out significantly. It's not cheap to create quality ninja training obstacles, but there is no substitute for realistic practice when it comes to training.

Bonus: They can pick out exactly what they need!

Airline Miles

If your ninja loves the American Ninja Warrior TV show, you can buy him/her an airline gift card or donate some miles so that they can fly to Vegas for the finals. Giving your ninja the chance to see Mt. Midoriyama is a really special experience that he/she will never forget!

Bonus: You know no one else will get them this!

Wearable Technology for Ninjas

Wearable fitness technology is hotter than ever right now and will probably be on the wish list of many people this holiday season. PC Magazine did a review of the most popular wearable technology bands and compared the various features of each. They then ranked the fitness wrist bands that they reviewed. Here's what they found:

1. Fitbit Flex
   Price: $99.99
   Pros: Excellent battery life. Accurate. Comfortable, light, stylish. Includes silent vibrating alarm. Interchangeable bands available in several colors. Bluetooth and NFC-enabled wireless syncing to smartphones. Great Web experience.
   Cons: Limited display of information on device. No altimeter.
2. Jawbone UP24
   Price: $149.99
   Pros: Thin, sleek, comfortable activity tracker. Measures deep sleep and light sleep. Connects with many other apps for sports, health, and calorie-counting. Beautiful app.
   Cons: Requires a smartphone. Sleep mode not automatic. Very basic calorie-counting features. Ends of band don't sit flat. No display. No altimeter. A bit pricey.
3. Runtastic Orbit
   Price: $119.99
   Pros: Measures steps, distance, calories burned, and sleep. Excellent display. Waterproof. Includes two wristbands and one clip case. Apps available on Android and iOS.
   Cons: No food-logging or calorie-counting component (though integration with MyFitnessPal is planned for a future update). No stair tracking. App doesn't track weight. Heart-rate monitoring isn't supported. Requires a smartphone.
4. Garmin Vivofit
   Price: $99.99
   Pros: Comfortable wrist-worn activity tracker. Monitors steps, distance, sleep, calories burned. Syncs to computer via USB ANT+ stick and Bluetooth Smart-enabled phones.
   Cons: Not particularly stylish. Doesn't count stairs climbed. No natively supported activities other than walking and running. Must actively enable sleep mode.
5. Nike+ FuelBand SE
   Price: $99.00
   Pros: Sporty, sturdy, and comfortable design. Displays time, steps, calories burned, and "fuel" on band. Wirelessly syncs over Bluetooth. Neat group features. Lets you isolate and name special activities. For iOS and Android.
   Cons: Slightly pricey. Doesn't track distance, stairs climbed, heart rate, skin temperature, or sleep. No auto-detection for specific activities. "Fuel" is murky in meaning. Mobile app exhibited some bugs.

No matter what kind of fitness band you choose, get active and stay active year-round!

Ninja Warrior - Clash of the Americas... It Could Be Great!

American Ninja Warrior was developed in the US as a spinoff of the Japanese sports show competition, Sasuke. Once ANW became a hit, NBC decided to rollout a special "USA versus Japan" edition to pit America's best athletes versus Japan's best athletes in homage to the show's roots.

American Ninja Warrior: USA vs Japan was such a hit that last year NBC débuted a new competition - "USA versus The World." In this competition, teams from the US, Japan and a special new team from Europe competed for the title. It was a drama-filled epic battle that brought American competitors to the final stage of Mt. Midoriyama. With the incredible excitement that USA vs The World brought to viewers, that left us wondering... what's next?

We have a great idea - "Ninja Warrior - Clash of the Americas." In this special ANW edition, the best athletes from the US would go against South and Central American athletes. Here's why it could be great:

• Soccer Stars
  South America is world-renown for having some of the world's top soccer stars. With soccer being so central to the culture in South America, you can bet that there would be crowds of top-flight amateur and pro athletes lining up to run the course. The whole-body physical demands of soccer will likely produce highly competitive contestants.
  
• Expert Hikers and Climbers
  South America has some incredibly tall mountains and challenging terrain to challenge expert hikers and climbers. Between towering peaks in The Andes and the steep cliffs of Machu Picchu, South American outdoor enthusiasts have a world-class natural playground to hone their skills. This makes them very dangerous competitors because of how important grip strength and endurance are to the American Ninja Warrior course.
  
• Extreme Water Enthusiasts
  Almost all of the Central and South American countries have coastlines, but it's not all sandy beaches. In fact, some of the South American coastline has famously treacherous areas wrought with undertow, rocks and aggressive sharks. This makes water sports like scuba diving, swimming, water skiing and diving even more extreme. The athletes that compete in these sports have to be fearless, which may give them an edge in the competition.
  
• Niche Sports
  In South America, there are some popular sports that we really don't have in the US - things like polo. Without having competitors in the US who have a background with these types of sports, we don't yet know whether that may give them an advantage. It's quite possible that the training and competition involved in a sport like polo might produce greater balance or core strength than some of the popular sports here.
  

What do you think? Is this a good idea, or what?!