You read that correctly. It’s not a typo. In early spring we’ll start scrolling past posts telling us “Summer Bodies are MADE in Winter” to scare-motivate, intimidate-motivate, shame-motivate us to get to the gym before it’s too late.

Though let’s face it, the fear of not being ‘swimsuit ready’ does not make us hope the groundhog pops out of his hole shadowless. Bring back summer! Regardless.

Nevertheless, if those five words motivate you to lace up in the cold dark winter then by all means lace up! Because…

YOU TOTALLY CAN, you’ve already done the hard work to prepare for it.

The workouts, the exercise classes, the walks, the runs, the vitamin D, the good mood, the pep in your step in the easier, carefree, joyous summer months HAS MADE you strong for winter, inside out and outside in. Yes, it is indisputable, the winter months throw countless curveballs our way, but we have the power, the ability and the function to bend, lift, rotate, push-pull and carry through it. We trained for this.

Our gym bags are heavier in the winter as are our many layers to keep warm…

No problem, we got this. We have the physical strength to lift it up, sling it over our shoulder and walk, and to even take the stairs, in a snowsuit. That’s what all those free weight exercises and resistance machines were designed to do for us, and they have.

More of a nuisance: the snow. Scraping car windows. Oh my, talk about exertion, we got this. Those punches we threw in kickboxing really come in handy as does all that reaching in yoga. No amount of ice on the windshield will shut us down.

No car, well then, we march through the snow in 3 lb boots. We have primed our big muscle groups all summer for this by lunging and squatting, we got this. We even carry the loaded gym bag on this trek, no problem.

And when we arrive at Lakeshore Sport and Fitness having defied the rumors of winter blues, we strut in those doors with more gumption than in summer. We made it. We are always glad we came.

While under one roof, with various personal goals and/or reasons for being there (perhaps it’s just somewhere to be!), whatever your inspiration…necessity, companionship, energy…this feeling nearly doubles inside of us because we successfully fought all the forces working against us to be there. And so, we wave a warrior wave to members as we pass, or a Warrior nod, or maybe even blurt “Warriors” to each other, as I have heard many shout to the cycling class spinning their hearts out outside in single digit weather. We know what it takes to keep chipping away at our goals in the winter and so we celebrate each other.

No matter what it is that drives each member to the gym, we know one thing for sure…every member is there to better themselves in some way, making themselves stronger for when they really need it…like for instance, in wintertime.

You got this.

Written by Karen Campion