Turn on the afterburners: Fun ways to burn calories in the new year with quad-city fitness activities

Every year, resolutions are made to lose weight, but with spendy gym membership fees, and the day-to-day dread of treadmills, the return of the TV-and-couch routine is no surprise. Only 8 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions stick to them, anyway, according to Time magazine. So, why not choose a resolution that is attainable? Here’s some nearby, fun and mostly family-friendly fitness ideas that may actually work. Whether it’s once a week or once a month, the calorie torch is a bonus after all that holiday feasting.

Yoga

• Calories burned in an hour: 204 calories *
• That’s like burning: ½ cup canned, sweetened cranberry sauce

Yoga was a hot trend this year. And with the dripping sweat of Bikram yoga, we mean literally. (Bikram is generally a 90-minute class done in a 105-degree room with a humidity of 40 percent.)

Moscow’s Nourish Yoga is even offering a New Year’s Resolution Pass for $55, which includes 30 days of unlimited drop-in classes from Jan. 13 through Feb. 11. Beyond losing weight, Nourish Yoga says other yoga benefits include increased flexibility and strength, confidence, sound sleep, and more engagement and connectivity with others.

Other studios include the Moscow Yoga Center, Sanctuary Yoga Barre & Dance in Pullman, Cocoon Yoga in Moscow, the Uma Center’s pre- and postnatal yoga in Moscow, Shri Dharma Yoga in Moscow, Ashtanga Yoga Lewiston, Northwest Natural Healthcare of Lewiston and Goo Roo’s Marketplace in Clarkston.

Bowling

• Calories burned in an hour: 245 calories
• That’s like burning: Two sugar cookies

While some bowlers, such as Walter Sobchak of “The Big Lebowski,” tote their own ball, wrist support and polisher, less serious bowlers, like the Dude, can tone it down by joining a group of friends or family in some heart-pumping competition. “Dude, let’s go bowling.”

Check out Zeppoz in Pullman on Sundays for Family Day — $2.75 per game per child, or 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday for Dollar Dayz — $1 per game per person. For those looking to better their skills, Orchard Lanes in Lewiston offers bowling lessons upon request from certified bowling instructors. Lancer Lanes in Clarkston offers Ten at Ten, where bowlers pay $10 to bowl from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Snowshoeing/skiing

• Calories burned in an hour: 653 calories
• That’s like burning: 2 cups of eggnog

Find grandfather’s old pair of snowshoes in the garage and burn some extra calories digging through the grime. If grandpa never owned a pair, the University of Idaho Campus Recreation Center offers snowshoe rentals for $9/day or $18/weekend. Nearby trails include Lookout Pass Nordic Ski Trail, Elk Creek Falls Recreation Area, Bonners Ferry Area Nordic trails, Palouse Divide Nordic Ski Trail in Potlatch and Fish Creek Meadows Nordic Ski Trail in Grangeville.

The UI Rec Center also offers a cross-country ski package for $12/day and $24/weekend. Crosscountry skiing burns about 544 calories in an hour.

The center reopens Sunday.

Dancing

• Calories burned in an hour: 367 calories
• That’s like burning: 12-ounces of hot chocolate with 2 percent milk and whipped cream

Groups like the Palouse Dance Club, Palouse Folklore Society and the Swing Devils of the Palouse offer both social and group exercise opportunities. Bill Skavdahl, co-president of the Palouse Dance Club, said their bimonthly dances are a good low-impact exercise.

“If you’re doing swing dancing, and two-thirds of the dances we do are fairly cardio (intense),” he said. “You do two or three dances and you need to sit down.”

The club’s next dance is 8 p.m. Jan. 18 at Moscow’s Best Western Plus University Inn. A dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. More information can be obtained through Skavdahl at (509) 595-8485 or palousedanceclub@gmail.com.

For those willing to brave a club to break a sweat, dancers can visit CJ’s Nightclub in Moscow, The Zzu Bar and Grill or Stubblefields in Pullman, or Club Tz in Lewiston. CJ’s hosts $5 country swing dancing on Wednesdays for 18-and-older with a beginner’s and advanced floor option. The Swing Devils dance in the same location Thursdays for $4. Drop-in lessons start at 8 p.m., while dancing goes from 9 p.m. to midnight.

*Approximate calorie counts are according to myfitnesspal.com for a 180-pound person.

Treffry can be contacted at (208) 883-4640 or ltreffry@ inland360.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTreffry.

At-home exercises

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Snow shoveling

• Calories burned in an hour: 506 calories
• That’s like burning: 1½ cups of bread stuffing

The sidewalk isn’t going to clean itself. Take the lazy route and use the snowblower, burning about 378 calories in an hour.

Vacuuming

• Calories burned in an hour: 204 calories
• That’s like burning: 4 candy canes

After all the holiday visitors, at least one family member or pet is guaranteed to have tracked the outside, well, inside. Get cleaning to break a sweat, and lift some furniture to torch even more calories.

Video games

• Calories burned in an hour playing Wii Fit at a low intensity: 204 calories
• That’s like burning: Two 3-ounce slices of Hormel cured ham

Whether you just received a Wii or Xbox console or just need to blow off the dust from under the TV, there are plenty of games to get your heart pumping — Zumba Fitness, Just Dance, Wii Fit (for Wii) and Kinect Training (for Xbox 360) are just a few.