I thought it would be fun to sit down and brainstorm different activities and exercises to do now that it’s fall.

I’m the sort of person that is great at consistency if there is something I am training for, but it is much easier to talk myself out of something if I’m not.

Make a point to do things that were "too hot" to do in the summer. Don’t use the excuse that “oh man it’s too cold out now”. Going for runs as an example. I was terrible at waking up early to go running before it got hot, but now it’s crisp but I just need to grab a pair of gloves and a hat and I’ll be fine. Plus I’m a much better cool weather runner.

There are also plenty of great indoor activities to do for those days that it might be a bit too crisp outside for you. So, in no particular order, her his my list of brainstorm list of fall exercises:

+ Go to your apartment gym or try out some at-home exercises. There’s no excuses if you don’t even have to go outside into the cold. And this is a quick thing to do if I need a break from work for 30-45 minutes. I’ll just go down to my apartment gym and do a focused workout. I just look up a workout on Pinterest depending on what area I want to work that day.

+ Go running. Either on the road, bike path or trail running has been my favorite recently. You actually warm up pretty quick so you don’t even need to wear that many extra layers. And because it’s not overly humid with the sun beating down, you might actually be able to enjoy it more.

+ Go to a hot yoga class. I need to get a punch card for the one here in Des Moines because there really is nothing like warming your bones and even working up a sweat when it’s frigid outside. And yoga is great because you can take it easy or push yourself just by tweaking how far you push the moves. And you can always just lay in child’s pose and soak up the heat.

+ Go on a walk outside to enjoy the changing leaves. You can walk around your town, hit up a park or even find some trails to hike through. Walking gets your blood pumping but is great for those days that you’re not feeling very energetic.

+ Go to a rock climbing gym. This isn’t a frequent one for me but I always love it and man my arms do too. You can go alone and do some bouldering, make a friend to belay you on the walls or bring someone with you.

+ Go to a swimming pool. Our local YMCA just finished theirs, and I haven’t gotten over to try it out yet. Swimming isn’t one of my strengths but what better place to just practice than a pool? Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like I was drowning when I decide to do a random triathlon out of the blue.

+ Go on a bike ride. This is another one of those things that you might put off when it’s too hot out, but can be great when it starts to cool off. Just put a thin hat on under your helmet and some gloves should do the trick.

+ Go run a 5k. Get your family to sign up for a turkey trot on thanksgiving together before you go home and fill up on food. If you’re here in Iowa that’s where I’ll be Thanksgiving Day (downtown putting on the race).

+ Go do your own sprint triathlon at your local gym/YMCA. Ok, so this one might seem a little out there, but if there’s a pool, stationary bikes and a treadmill or a track you could totally do it. And you can even change in between your swim and the final two legs to make it more comfortable. Do a 750m swim, 20k on the bike, and finish with a 5k run.

There are so many fun things you can do for exercise this season, and these are just a few of the things I want to try out. What type of exercise are you exited to do?