How to keep moving and grooving with diabetes and cold weather

When the weather outside is frightful, it can be tempting to pull the covers over your head and stay in bed. However, it's especially important to stay active if you're living with diabetes and cold weather is headed your way. Regular exercise helps lower your blood sugars, use insulin better, and keep your body warm, and working out can even improve your mood. Here are a few ways to enjoy at-home exercise and keep yourself moving when it's cold outside.

Look around the house

Diabetes and cold weather mesh better when you stay active, and the good news is, you don't even need to leave the house to get some exercise in.

Do you have stairs? If so, use them to get warmed up. Stair walking is a great way to get in an aerobic and fat-burning workout, and it doesn't require any extra equipment or special clothing — just a comfortable pair of sneakers. If you're looking for a cardiovascular workout, stair climbing is one of the best. It's low-impact and not as strenuous as running or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). This means it is kinder to your ankles, knees, and hips, and that helps if you're older or recovering from an injury. There are a number of other exercises you can do involving your stairs as well. For example, you can use your stairs to do tricep dips or mountain climbers.

Another at-home workout that doesn't require anything but yourself is a plank. This core-strengthening exercise requires you to hold a position, similar to a push-up, for an extended time and uses your arms, legs, and all of your abs. A plank is all-encompassing and a more efficient exercise than crunches. Pick an open spot in the living room or bedroom and hit the floor!

Turn housework into a workout

If you must clean the house, why not get a workout in, too? Vacuuming works your arms and legs, and you might even build up a sweat. When you load or unload the dishwasher, rather than bend, try squatting to put the dishes in or take them out. Repeat until the entire dishwasher is filled or cleared. Just how many squats should you do a day? According to Healthline.com, there is no magic number. Starting with a few days a week, try to get in three sets of 12-15 reps and build up from there. Not only will you start to feel stronger, but you'll appreciate how clean your house is if you pair them with kitchen cleanup.

Try a fitness app

There are tons of free at-home fitness programs available on your smartphone. Samsung Health's HIIT Adaptive Training program involves alternating periods of short, high-intensity movements and rests to burn calories at an extremely high rate. The program includes an overview of the difficulty level, the number of weeks to complete the program, and the average workout duration. You can also select the start date.

Yoga, another living room-friendly workout, is an ancient practice that offers several health benefits. As the body twists to hold poses, it reduces stress and increases blood flow, which helps the body do a better job absorbing insulin. Yoga also improves digestion and the administration of insulin. The app Down Dog — available for download on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and on Google Play — offers a brand-new yoga practice every time you log on. Unlike other yoga apps that have you follow prerecorded videos, Down Dog features more than 60,000 different configurations that let you build a yoga practice you love. The app also includes prenatal yoga, HIIT, Barre, and meditation exercise.

Are you looking for more at-home exercise ideas? Check out this article.