The 5 best outdoor activities to give your body a workout this winter

Outdoor sports offer the perfect winter workout and are a great alternative to stuffy gyms. This winter, say goodbye to the gym germs and hello to outdoor winter fitness with these five calorie-burning and muscle-stretching activities that will challenge your physical stamina.

Sledding isn't just for kids. It's a fun outdoor sport for any age, and it affords the body an excellent workout. No, sitting on that sled while it sails across the white powdery snow at high speeds won't give your body a workout, but the climb back up the hill pulling the sled is sure to exert your legs, cardiovascular system and arms. The hill climb becomes an excellent calorie burner.

Unlike downhill skiing, cross-country skiing doesn't require a lot of experience or skill, making it a good winter sport for beginners. Cross-country skiing is a full-body workout and an excellent calorie burner. According to weightwatchers.ca, an hour of the activity can burn up to 600 calories.

Ice skating is a fun and addictive sport that is easy on the joints. It improves balance and coordination, helps strengthen smaller muscles around the hip and ankle and tones the quadriceps. Ice skating, whether in a rink or outside, is a good preparatory exercise for skiing.

There's a lot more to ice fishing than casting the line and reeling in the fish. Ice fishing involves a lot of physical work like building a fire in the open, setting up ice fishing tents and shacks, sawing through the ice to make a fishing hole, keeping the hole from freezing back and, finally, reeling in your big catch of the day.

Snowshoeing probably gives us the most rigorous outdoor winter workout. According to sportsexperts.ca, you can expend 1,000 calories per hour depending upon your pace and the type of snow. If your objective is to boost cardiovascular fitness and exercise all major muscle groups, then put on those snowshoes and tackle the ascents, slopes and stretches of terrain that will gobble your feet up to the ankles. This easily mastered sport can be enjoyed at your own pace alone or in a group.

The cold weather should never be an excuse to stop your workouts; if anything, this season offers many opportunities to raise your fitness benchmarks with fun and challenging activities.