I enjoy working out at the gym but due to the latest coronavirus outbreak, I have to do home workouts or outdoor exercises. The good thing is that the weather is warming up. So outdoor exercise can be a pleasure.
Benefits of Outdoor Exercise
Outdoor exercise has multiple benefits. It has shown to have a positive effect, not only on the body but on the mind as well.
- Improves Your Mental Health: People have reported greater feelings of revitalization and a decrease in tension, anger, and even depression after engaging in outdoor exercise.
- Challenging: Outdoor exercises can be more difficult as you encounter new environments and have to deal with the elements – uneven, soft or hard surfaces, or the wind and sun.
- Socialization: Working out indoors can feel lonely. Doing an outdoor workout can create positive engagement with others, even if it’s just passing by.
- High Energy: Being outdoors can increase your energy as you are more likely to get some sunlight, which is a mood booster and energizer.
- Save Money: Outdoor workouts save you money as you don’t need a gym membership.
- Simplicity: There are many outdoor exercise activities that you can engage in and a lot of them don’t need any equipment. You just need to get ready and go.
Outdoor Exercise Activities
Now that you know all the amazing benefits of exercising outdoors, you are ready to get started. Do you know where to start? If not, you can start by walking. Later on, you can incorporate other outdoor exercise activities. The following is a list of outdoor exercise activities so you can get started and change things up a bit:
- Walking
- Jogging or running
- Cycling
- Canoeing
- Outdoor Workouts
- Rock climbing
- Roller skating or roller-blading
- Skateboarding
- Swimming
- Playing tennis, baseball, basketball, softball, or volleyball
- Practice martial arts
- Throwing a ball or frisbee
- Trail running
- Yoga
Outdoor Exercises without Equipment
Let’s say you are not the type of person that practices sports but is more interested in just working out. If you want to do an outdoor workout without having to deal with any equipment, you can do that as well. Check out these outdoor exercises without equipment:
- Burpees: A high-intensity exercise that engages your arms, shoulders, chest, abs, lower back, legs, and glutes. They accelerate your metabolism, help you burn more calories, and increase your stamina.
- Front Lunges: Wonderful for strengthening and sculpting not only the legs but the glutes, while engaging the core muscles.
- Horizontal Jumps: This plyometric exercise involves an all-out effort while jumping forward to help you become more athletic, build more muscle, and burn more fat.
- Mountain Climbers with a Twist: great whole-body exercise that engages your abs, legs, arms, shoulders, and butt muscles.
- Plank Jacks: This ab exercise also accelerates your metabolism and gets you leaner and more agile.
- Plank Kick to Crunch: This plank variation is an ab exercise that also targets the lower back, lower and upper body. It’s a whole-body exercise that accelerates your metabolism and gets you stronger.
- Plyo Spider Lunges: This plyometric exercise targets the whole body, legs, the upper body, and the core.
- Pushups: Great compound exercise that activates most muscles. Primordially, it challenges the chest muscles. In addition, triceps, shoulders, biceps, and core muscles are engaged, with the stabilizing help of the lower body.
- Reverse Lunges: Multifunctional exercise that stimulates numerous muscles and can be applied for diverse goals. It challenges your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and even your core muscles.
- Side Lunges: They build strength as well as flexibility on the quads, abductors, adductors, glutes, and calves. At the same time, side lunges engage the core and stabilizing muscles.
- Single-Leg Deadlift to Jump: a plyometric move to help you be more agile and strengthen your legs.
- Sit-ups: Awesome for your core. They strengthen the ab and lower back muscles. Stronger core muscles help alleviate and even prevent back pain and injuries.
- Squats: A total body exercise, are amazing for you. Squats have huge and multiple benefits. They are one of the best exercises to strengthen and sculpt your legs and glutes but pretty much work the whole body.
- Start Jumps: The star jump is a cardio exercise that accelerates your metabolism and helps you to get leaner and more agile.
- Tricep Bench Dips: The dip targets the back of the arms – a great tricep exercise, which can be done on any park bench.
Outdoor Workout Routine
After looking at the list of outdoor exercises without equipment, you can choose three or four exercises and perform them in a circuit fashion (one after another) three to four times for 12 repetitions or a minute. Here is a 20-minute outdoor workout routine example:
Set 1 (repeat 3 times):
- Burpees x 12-15 times
- Front Lunges x12 times each leg
- Push-ups x 12-20 repetitions
Set 2 (repeat 3 times):
- Squats x 20-30 times
- Plank Jacks x 15-20 times
- Tricep Bench Dips x 12-20 repetitions
You can alternate an outdoor workout routine with some of the outdoor exercise activities and you will see a difference in your body. Exercise a minimum of 3-4 times a week and switch the routines. If needed, you can get an online coach to help you with meal planning or a more guided training routine according to your body and goals. Feel free to check out 28 Days to a New Life to incorporate a holistic approach.
There are many benefits of outdoor exercise. Now that you have a list of many outdoor exercise activities and outdoor exercises without equipment, you can build your own outdoor workout routine and achieve the body you deserve while remaining healthy – body and mind.
Lift, Burn more Fat, Get Stronger, and Live Healthier!
To a Fitter Healthier You,
The Fitness Wellness Mentor
