The days got shorter, the bowl games got longer, the pizzas got bigger, and yesterday you woke up and realized you hadn't exercised since the lap dance at the office Christmas party. And, come to think of it, you weren't even the one exercising there.

Call it human hibernation. It's one of the things that link us to our cute mammal friends -- chipmunks and raccoons and Jesse Ventura. "Animals respond to light and temperature cues," says Greg Florant, Ph.D., of Colorado State University, who studies hibernating animals. These cues compel bears, for example, to store 50 percent of their body weight as fat in preparation for the long, cold nights of winter. Does that remind you of anyone?

It should. Most of us spent last winter like giant, hairy carnivores, sleeping more, eating more -- and exercising less.

Now it's time to leave the cave. Here's your exit strategy: 19 exercise and fitness workout strategies that will help get you out of your bear suit.

The Damage: Not as Bad as You Think

Don't worry about the long-term effects of your winter layoff. There really aren't any. "Your fitness will ebb and flow, like everything else in your body. In the long run, it's really irrelevant if you miss a couple of weeks here and there," says Bryant Stamford, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Louisville. So, the first thing you should do is...

Just Show Up

Longer nights actually have a physiological effect on men's bodies. A lack of the hormone melatonin (its production is linked to duration of daylight) makes us sluggish, and we spend our days covered up in layers of bulky clothing, making it easy to hide our spreading love handles.

But there's one place where people aren't covered up, where the lights are bright, and where we feel a surge of adrenaline just by walking in the door -- and it's not a maternity ward. "Just go to a gym," suggests Michael George, a trainer in Los Angeles. "Your