It’s 6.15am. Your alarm has just gone off, and before you can even reach over to switch on the lights, you hear rain lashing against your window. Once you’ve finally faced the chill and crawled out of bed, you peek outside to see the trees along your street bending in a gale-force wind. Any motivation you had to leave the house, let alone get out for an early morning run, quickly disappears.

We know there are plenty of benefits to exercising outdoors during winter, but choosing to stay inside when it’s tipping it down isn’t going to hurt. It’s the perfect opportunity to try TikTok’s ‘cosy cardio’ trend – an approach to working out during winter that makes space for comfort and self-care while moving your body. 

Despite the name, cosy cardio isn’t about getting your heart rate super high. Early adopters of the trend broadened its meaning to incorporate all kinds of movement, so you don’t need to get all sweaty to reap the benefits.

All you really need to do to embrace the cosy cardio trend is find some comfy clothes (think super soft loungewear), light a candle or switch on some fairy lights and get ready to do some gentle movement. What that movement looks like depends on what you fancy, but here are five ideas to get you started.  

You don’t need loads of weights to improve your strength. Even a simple chair in front of the TV can offer plenty of benefits. From tricep dips and Bulgarian split squats to chair planks, there are lots of ways you can use a chair to build strength.

You can also incorporate bodyweight work into your routine: just grab a mat (or a comfy spot on the floor) and work your way through exercises such as squats, push-ups and burpees to give your muscles a wake-up call. You can check out the videos below to make sure you’re nailing your technique.

How to do a squat

How to do a push-up

How to do a burpee

While these exercises may not be cardio in the traditional sense, they’re certain to get your heart rate elevated and give your muscles a nice challenge.

If you want to transform your strength training into a cardio workout, opt for a circuit-like structure: pick five exercises, do each one for 45 seconds and have a five-second break between each before repeating three times. To finish, throw in some heart rate raisers such as mountain climbers or high knees. Simple. 

Forget the StairMaster in the gym – if you’ve got stairs in your home, then spending 10 spare minutes going up and down is a great way to get your blood pumping. You can even play your favourite music or listen to a podcast as you go about it. What better way to get moving? 

Most of the cosy cardio routines on TikTok make use of an at-home walking pad, but that’s not the kind of thing most of us have lying around. If you still want to reap the benefits of walking, though, then try one of YouTube’s walking workouts.

These step-focused workouts see you walking up and down on the spot along with an instructor, as music plays in the background. If you’ve got a step platform or a flight of stairs nearby, you can step up and down as you move to add an extra level of challenge to the workout.

These walking workouts may not be the most innovative thing in the world, but they’re effective. When Strong Women editor Miranda Larbi tried one out, she clocked up 1,500 steps in 10 minutes. Easy! 

Just like the walking workouts, dance workouts are a quick and easy way to squeeze in some movement while still enjoying all the benefits of a cosy session.

Whether you’re into Taylor Swift or want something festive (Christmas in November people, we’re looking at you), you’re sure to find a workout that suits your tastes and will leave you bursting with endorphins. 

You don’t even need much space to get started – just clear a metre-square area and get bopping along. 

Keeping up a reformer pilates habit can be expensive – but did you know you can reap the benefits from home using exercise sliders? These inexpensive pieces of equipment allow you to slide side to side in the same way you would on a reformer machine, so you can challenge your core from home.  

P.S. You can even use a skateboard to achieve the sliding motion if you have one hanging around.

Images: Getty