While picnics, campouts, and even hanging out with your friends by some outdoor fountains while sharing a good conversation are nice, why not kill two birds with one stone and work on your fitness while enjoying your time outdoors?
There are so many amazing ways to fill your time under the sun while also engaging in cardio, building muscle, and finding your inner peace. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Go for a Walk
This is by far the easiest thing you can do in terms of outdoor activity. Although some of you may not consider walking much of a workout, numerous medical studies will disagree. According to a report from Mayo Clinic, “physical activity doesn’t need to be complicated. Something as simple as a daily brisk walk can help you live a healthier life.”
Of course, you can’t expect to go for a 5-minute walk and see results. Mayo Clinic recommends “at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity.”
If walking is your outdoor fitness routine of choice, try to aim for a realistic goal of 30 minutes per day to start. Walk at a brisk pace, and don’t forget to pump your arms for a full body workout.
Join an Outdoor Fitness Class
The number of outdoor fitness classes skyrocketed in 2020 (for obvious reasons). Now it’s easier than ever to sign up for an outdoor yoga class, HIIT session, or you can even find a running group in your area.
Now is the perfect time to take advantage of all the outdoor activities that are going on. It combines the best of both worlds – enjoying the great outdoors while also getting motivated to stay healthy through group fitness.
Take Up Rock Climbing
Rock climbing, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, is an amazing way to get fit. Not only does climbing up a rock wall build muscles in the hands, forearms, and shoulders, it engages the muscles of the entire body.
In addition to building muscle and strengthening the body, rock climbing is also an amazing form of cardio. It increases the heart rate and respiratory rate, and some people even consider it a high-intensity workout since it involves short bursts of activity followed by periods of rest.
Outdoor climbers who engage in traditional climbing, AKA trad climbing, get to experience the benefits of both physical and mental challenges. The body is physically tested from climbing up the wall, but there’s also the mental challenge of mapping out the ideal route to get to the final destination.
Pick Up a Tennis Racket
If you’ve got a tennis court near your home, this is the perfect opportunity to embrace your competitive spirit and break a sweat. Tennis is an amazing workout, strengthening the legs, arms, shoulders, back, core, and even the heart since there’s a ton of cardio involved.
Choosing tennis as your new outdoor, get-fit hobby is ideal if you and a partner, friend, or family member are looking for ways to get fit together. Even if you’ve never played before, it’s an easy sport to learn and all you need to get started is a tennis racket.
This next one isn’t as easy for everyone since it requires easy access to water. But if you’ve got that, why not invest in a kayak and take it for a spin? Kayaking is a great way to experience nature on the water, and best of all, you’ll get an amazing upper body workout.
Since there’s no pavement or cardio machinery involved, kayaking is considered a low-impact workout that’s easy on the joints. Sure, your arms might feel tired or sore after a kayaking session, but there’s no risk of a high-impact injury like there is with running or weight training.
Explore Your City
Walking around your city or neighborhood may not sound like a workout, but you’d be surprised. If you sign up for a city walking tour or just go out and explore on your own, you’ll definitely burn some calories while you do it.
Whether you choose to hike, bike, swim, ride a motorbike, rock climb, walk, or grab a tennis racket, get outdoors this summer season and enjoy some fresh air.
The only downside is that it’s hard to track your progress, like how many miles you’ve traveled or how fast you’ve been going. It’s essential to know these things to see your improvement over time.
Most smartphones have built-in capabilities that check your pulse and breathing. It would do you well to utilize this.
Consider upgrading your equipment like power meters for your bike. A power meter records how much power is being exerted by a person while biking. The more information you have, the better your next exercise will be.
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