By Dr. Graham A. Colditz

Siteman Cancer Center

We’ve made it past Groundhog Day — again — but whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not, winter can often feel unending this time of year.

Across the country, we’ve had long stretches of cold temperatures and bad weather. And even when things start to defrost, the days can feel too short and the nights too long. This combination can make it harder to keep up with regular routines, including being physically active.

But there are many good reasons to work on staying active through winter. On top of the health and wellness benefits, maintaining our routines can also prepare us to enjoy springtime activities when the days finally turn nicer. We’ll have energy and fitness for long walks around the neighborhood, family bike rides to check out daffodils at the local park or pick-up ball games with our kids or grandkids.

Almost any type of movement can have benefits. But given the ongoing winter weather, indoor activities and exercises can often be the simplest — and safest.

Indoor sessions can feel a bit bland compared to getting outside, especially when you’re inside week after week this time of year. That makes it important to find activities you really enjoy. If one activity doesn’t click, try another. Be creative and keep experimenting. There are many options that count as physical activity, and you’re likely to find some — and maybe many — you really like.

Local recreation centers can have stretching and cardio classes, open gym hours and exercise equipment, like treadmills, bikes and ellipticals. Malls or big box stores can offer special hours for walking groups. And streaming sites can have a huge variety of online exercise videos that can be followed at home.

If none of these sounds good, just taking regular standing breaks throughout the day can have benefits.

One good way to stay consistent with our activity through winter is to set an accessible and specific goal to slowly work toward. Maybe that’s building from one gym class per week up to three a week by the end of March. Or building from 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill three days a week to walking 40 minutes three days a week. Or moving from doing little or no planned activity to streaming two stretching and core classes per week. And, of course, if you ever have any questions about fitness or health, contact a health professional.

It can also really help to have the support of friends and family. This can mean going to the gym or streaming a class together or simply sharing our goals and the progress we’re making. The activities themselves can be more fun when we’re with others, and it can help keep us on track since we know others are also following our progress.

And the more regular we can be with our activities, the easier it can often be to fit into our schedules. When our treadmill time or basketball games become a normal part of our weeks, we’re less likely to skip them when work and family life get busy.

While winter may feel like it’s on a loop right now, before long the days will get noticeably longer and the temperatures will warm. And the activity we’ve put in through the coldest months will help us really enjoy some great springtime outings.

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention and the creator of the 8ightWays® to Prevent Cancer series.