As hard as it may be to resist the call of the couch during winter, there’s a bunch of reasons why you should. For starters, compared to summer’s hot, humid weather, which can tire you out quickly, the cooler winter weather actually stimulates your body.

This is because during the cold weather, your body has to work harder, which boosts your endorphin production. As a bonus: you burn more calories, as a result. The key to beating the winter slumber is actually exercising more, so we’ve put together some winter workouts that are not only rockin’ – but will leave your body rockin’, too.

Fat burning kettlebell workout: the mighty kettlebell burns as many calories as an all-out running sprint, and leaves your metabolism burning high for hours afterwards. Do 3-5 sets of this circuit:

1. Do 15 kettlebell swings with your right hand
2. Do 25 squats as hard as you can
3. Do 15 kettlebell swings in your left hand
4. Do 25 squats again
5. Do 10 pushups, 10 pull-ups, then 10 pull downs
6. Rest for 60 seconds, then back to step 1.

Muscle building must-haves: building muscle is the most efficient way of burning fat, and if you want to do that you must lift heavy things or expose your body to high amounts of force. That’s very hard to do with typical ‘fat loss’ workout – it’s near impossible to do running, which is why marathon runners have such skinny legs!

How heavy is heavy? Typically a weight you can lift in the range of 5 – 10 repetitions – no more and no less – is perfect. Our favourite workout for muscle gain is the 5×5 approach, which is basically 5 sets of 5 repetitions of the following:

• Bench presses
• Squats
• Squat presses
• Deadlifts
• Pull-ups

For ideal muscle gain, use a challenging weight and do 5 sets of each of these exercises, with a 60-90 second rest between each set.