QTips: Winter Workouts Worth Their Weight in Sweat

By Dan Hutton on July 26, 2016 in

Sydneysiders are not shy when it comes to having a whinge about the cooler months. However, the not-so-harsh reality is that our winters are soft. The June, July, August stretch is definitely not an excuse to refuse to exercise. Ronda Rousey championed the phrase, “Don’t be a do-nothing b*tch”. It’s a forthright don’t-be-lazy mantra that we can use in the chillier months as fuel for the motivational struggle of sweating it out.

To make it easier for you, we’ve put together a short list of places you can exercise in Bondi without freezing to death. Winter schminter; just get it done folks.

Heated Yoga
Ah yoga – that popular thing for stretchy people. It’s actually very good for you and the heated version means the winter whinge won’t show its twisted face. At Power Living they have Vinyasa yoga in rooms that are heated up to a toasty 32 degrees. Thank you! Apparently you can expect it to be sweaty, dynamic and intensely satisfying, but there’s only one way to find out for sure. They also have acupuncture on Thursdays, which is probably a daunting thought for those who haven’t tried it, but, you know, YOLO and all that stuff.

Pilates
A big shout out to Joseph Pilates for inventing this breathing and movement based exercise – look how far it’s come now, Joe. Balance Moves is a boutique Pilates studio specialising in both group classes and private sessions. These guys import traditional Gratz-based Basil equipment from New York, and use props like Pilates arcs, sliding discs, balance beams, elastics, balls and magic circles in their classes. Sounds kinky. Get into it.

Indoor Swimming
Swimming in winter, are you cray cray? Before you get your knickers in a knot, just know that the pool at Gold’s Gym is heated. Oh yes, it is heated. So you ain’t got an excuse not to get your swim on. Swimming is a great form of exercise because it builds cardiovascular fitness without impact stress on the body, it builds strength and it maintains a healthy heart and lungs. You always feel like a million bucks after a swim, even more so after an ocean swim, but that’s left for the brave. Are you brave?

Icebergs Sauna
Now I’m no scientist, but I did hear Dr Rhonda Patrick (look her up) talk about how heat stress may improve endurance, memory, brain cell growth and longevity, and prevent muscle atrophy. This is good news for sauna lovers. Besides those physical paybacks, saunas are fun and make you feel good. And the icing on the melted cake is that the Bondi Icebergs sauna has million dollar views. Get. There. Now.