Great outdoors...

I recently wrote a guest blog on the website Muscle Mayhem on the benefits of doing some of your training outdoors. I never shared the blog so here it is...

What is your morning constitution? Do you even have one? Would you like one? Do you even know what the phase “morning constitution” means? It’s a beautiful phrase, one that I have heard many times before from the older generation. A constitution refers to a person’s health and vitality.

 

 

For me, my morning constitution is my gym session. I have no issue spending an hour each morning lifting and it is something I look forward to. For others, an hour in the gym would be a form of torture. Many find it so outrageously boring that they very rarely reach the goals they set out to achieve when they take out a gym membership.

Exercising indoors is a relatively new phenomenon. When you think back to our primal selves, exercise came from hunting and gathering, climbing, digging, throwing and running. Nowadays with the advancement of technology we see so many people walking or running on a treadmill inside the gym which is their form of exercise.

Is this better than getting outdoors for your walk or run? The answer is a definite no. The treadmill fails to activate your glutes and hamstrings in the same way that the outdoor ground will. So this is one benefit for taking your running outside but there are so many more benefits to training in the great outdoors!!

 

 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight. Vitamin D is a nutrient you can obtain for free and it prevents osteoporosis, depression, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and even effects diabetes and obesity. Probably one of my top reasons for getting out of the gym and into the sun!

Endorphins

Who doesn’t love those feel good hormones!!?? And training outdoors has been associated with higher levels of these chemicals which are produced in the pituitary gland and hypothalamus during exercise. Another natural and beneficial chemical that the body produces is Serotonin. Exposure to sunlight helps boost Serotonin levels which in turn helps you feel calm, alert and capable.

 

Clean Air

We all know how air-conditioning is the perfect breeding ground for germs so why not avoid the winter colds that are currently circulating and enjoy the fresh outdoor air. Fresh air is refreshing and invigorating due in large to the rich negative ion content. Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain and have been linked to an improved sense of well-being, increased alertness, decreased anxiety and a lower resting heart rate.

Burning the calories

Time to bust out of that fitness rut and shock your body by mixing things up with some more challenging terrain. Training outdoors challenges your body to move in more varied and complex ways which in turn will increase your calorific burn.  You may also be pleasantly surprised at how quickly time flies outside of the gym. Changing your routine, seeing new faces, taking in the scenic shrubbery can all help combat exercise boredom and before you know it, you’ve doubled your workout to 60 minutes instead of the normal 30 minute treadmill slog.

Ready to rock

The great outdoors is ready whenever you are! No gym opening or closing times to worry about. No class schedules. No waiting around for a treadmill to become available. When you get outside of your front door, the outdoors is there to greet you with open arms!

 

So what are you waiting for?