(With a little self-pampering thrown in, of course)

During a typical Atlantic Canadian winter and what passes for early spring here, the fireplace and a good book are far more appealing than shovelling the car out for a trip to the gym.

The weather is just one of the many easy excuses we find to avoid doing what we know is good for us. Whether it's a new year's resolution, a warning from the doctor, or just a desire to feel healthier and lose a few pounds, this is the time of year many of us decide to get back in shape. Unfortunately, experience verifies that starting an exercise program is much easier than following through with it. There are many hurdles to sticking with it: motivation, illness, stress, or just believing ourselves to be too busy to fit in a workout.

The solution can be to bring the gym home. According to consumer reports, the purchase of gym memberships peaked in 2006 but has been falling off ever since. Now, an increasing number are opting to exercise at home.

That's good news for Anita Delaney, Manager of Iron Dog Fitness Equipment in Halifax. She says her store sees lots of people interested in setting up a home gym. With either body image or health as the motivation, Delaney says people are looking to find an easier way to fit exercise into their lives. She says having the gym at home can help with some of the motivation problems people face, but warns dedication is still the biggest factor in keeping fit. "If you slump back on it for any period of time, it's going to take a while to get back into it."

Her customers express very valid fear that the expensive equipment they buy today will end up as a clothes hanger tomorrow. Delaney says people need to enjoy whatever activity they choose and suggests trying the equipment at a gym before bringing it home.

Devin Sherrington, personal trainer and owner of 360 Wellness and Fitness in Halifax, says setting goals and knowing how to achieve them is another big factor in making a home gym successful. "You can buy a million different pieces of home equipment, but you want something that will be functional.

"I tell people all the time, you really don't need a lot of big equipment," adds Sherrington. What you do need is a goal, but just wanting to feel healthier is not enough. "That's a great goal, but how do you qualify that? How do you know when you're healthy?" He says having a concrete goal of losing a certain amount of weight or even being able to play with the grandkids more easily will give you something measurable you can work for.

From there, Sherrington says you need to determine what equipment will help you reach that goal. He says the best choice is usually something that allows you to do a number of different types of activities… "Treadmills for example - not necessarily a bad purchase, but there are a limited number of options. You can walk. You can jog on a treadmill. That's about it. Dumbbells and a bosu (the half ball used for balancing and other core exercise), have a lot more applications. You can do a lot more with that, which means you won't get bored as easily."

In terms of cardio equipment, finding ways to make the activity fun, or at least distract yourself from the exercise, is a key component to success. "I think if you're going to get a piece of cardio equipment, getting a TV is almost a necessity," says Sherrington. "There's nothing worse than being on a treadmill running or jogging and nothing else is happening. You have nothing to keep your attention and all you do is spend your time looking at your darned clock."

Iron Dog Fitness used to carry treadmills with TVs built right into them, but Delaney says now they suggest people buy the TV separately. "When it comes to buying something with bells and whistles " says Delaney, "those are toys that may end up being more hassle than they're worth."

The reward is another very useful method of motivating yourself for a winter workout. It's still cold outside but a hot tub or a luxury bath might do just the trick to make sure you keep up with your workouts. Brad Sweet, co-owner of Holland Home Leisure in New Minas, says many of his customers are athletes.

"We have many, many customers that are runners and part of the reward at the end of their run … is to sit in the hot tub. Or bikers, we have a huge amount of bikers. They go for a bike ride and they go right into the hot tub."

Sweet says hot tubs offer not only a relaxing reward, but they have a physical benefit as well. "There are different positions of jets in all manufactures of hot tubs that will either do your back, your shoulders, your neck, your thighs, your calves, or your feet. They're all designed today to work on different parts of your body," says Sweet.

Sweet says saunas are also becoming a popular option for people looking for a little taste of the spa at home. "We've seen the sauna market increase by 50 per cent in 2009 alone." New to Canada, the infrared spas offer the same detoxification benefits of the traditional sauna without being as hot. "It can be considered a reward for a workout yet, in fact, it is working out the inside parts of you body," says Sweet. "Can you imagine sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes and not being disturbed? It's your own private serenity."

Some of the new saunas are as small as one square metre, but if you don't have the space (or budget) for a hot tub or sauna, you can always turn your bathroom into the spa you're looking for. Theresa Tanner, co-owner of the Plumbing Barn in Dartmouth, says new tub and shower options can create the most lavish of spas in the most basic of bathrooms. New air tubs are replacing the traditional whirlpool tub and Tanner says the sensation is every bit as good as a hot tub. She describes it as a champagne massage and says it's just as good as an outdoor hot tub. "You can have that same experience inside that you could have outside."

Showers are another option for an afterworkout spa retreat. Steam showers and rain heads can make even a short shower an escape. "Some people are even taking out an existing tub," says Tanner, "and putting in a walk-in shower and adding body sprays, a rain head, and massaging sprays." The result is a bathroom that is more spa retreat than tub and shower.

Now matter how you choose to motivate yourself for a workout, personal trainer Devin Sherrington says a personal reward is a great way to keep up with the exercise. "I think if you have some sort of reward system afterwards it becomes a positive and it makes it easier for you. Some people find the exercise a reward because they feel better afterwards … but not everybody is like that."