Best Outdoor Activities For Fitness

Your best outdoor activity for fitness depends on… you guessed it, your goals. Here are some ideas based on what kind of primary goal you have set:

• Lean/Weight Loss – Anything that burns the most calories and is fun enough to keep going! Hiking (particularly with a heavy pack), tennis (singles is best because you move around more) and playing with your children or dogs are all activities that keep you burning and are engaging enough to not feel like traditional “cardio”. Aim for a minimum of 40 minutes to tap into those body fat stores.
• Function/Fluidity – Keeping your muscles warm is key to getting them to feel looser. Combine that with some activities that emphasize increases in range of motion, and you have a winning combination! Hiking/climbing steep slopes & grades, basketball, and pruning are all activities that require stretching into the activity. Be sure to dynamically stretch beforehand though, to thoroughly prepare your body for extending beyond what it may be accustomed to.
• Strength/Muscle Growth – Short bursts of intense activity that forces your muscles to contract is the key here. Moving heavy things helps with muscle strength and, with enough calories & protein, hypertrophy & growth. Some types of farming (you can volunteer at local farms or with a hunger agency that plants and harvests food like Foodshare), sled pulling/dragging, and sprinting (or any sport that involves sprints) are all activities that force muscles to exhaust quickly. Bear in mind that if you can sustain that burst for more than about 90 seconds, it may not be intense enough to trigger a strength/growth adaptation. Short and hard is the key here.

Now that Spring is here, it’s time to take your fitness routine out of doors so you not only help yourself reach goals but also learn to incorporate fitness into your lifestyle. Fitness is not just for the studio or gym, it is for all environments!