Rethinking Winter Exercise

As the mornings and evenings grow darker in the UK, I’ve been reflecting on my relationship with exercise.

I have a gym membership. I can run (I even completed a half marathon a year ago). I’ve dabbled in hybrid gym-run protocols. But lately, I’ve been questioning why I move my body.

We’re often told that, as we approach 40, maintaining muscle mass and VO₂ max is non-negotiable for health and longevity. And the research does support that: higher strength and aerobic fitness are linked with lower mortality, fewer falls, and better quality of life.

But here’s the nuance:

• The benefits of strength training are seen even with just 2 light sessions a week — it doesn’t have to mean lifting maximal weights.

• Cardiorespiratory fitness improves through many forms of movement — brisk walks, swimming, gardening, dancing — not just structured gym intervals.

• The world’s Blue Zones don’t rely on gyms at all. Longevity there comes through incidental, joyful daily movement: walking, gardening, climbing hills, dancing, doing purposeful work with their hands.

• And when it comes to health in darker months, daylight itself is medicine — regulating circadian rhythms, improving sleep, boosting vitamin D and mood.

So as I move into winter, I’m considering a different path.

• Less focus on personal bests and rigid training protocols.

• More focus on joyful, seasonal movement: morning walks in the light, digging at the allotment, learning to swim with confidence, warming up in the sauna, even returning to dance — which research shows is one of the most powerful activities for brain health, balance, and emotional wellbeing.

It feels countercultural, especially in a wellness space that prizes optimisation. But perhaps a life well-lived isn’t about perfect numbers or metrics, but about finding rhythms of movement that sustain us — physically, emotionally, and socially — season after season.

👉 I’d love to know: what shifts do you make in your wellbeing routines as the seasons change?