At last: Springtime! Longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures tempt us outside for fitness. Here are some of the best spring fitness tips for shaping up.
Boost your daily activity
What's your health and fitness goal? Whether it's to lose weight, tone up, get fitter, beat illness or ward off the chances of developing disease, there's one thing to do: get active. The easiest but most effective thing you can do this spring is be more energetic in your day-to-day life. It's just as important as "real" exercise like workout classes and gym sessions. So get up and get out there. Whatever you can manage will without a doubt benefit your health. Walk (even 20 minutes every day is beneficial), play with your kids outside, walk the dog, do the gardening or carry out chores on foot or by bike. It all adds up.
Blast calories
If you want to burn serious calories, add workouts on top of your daily activity. Get outside and make the most of the local landscape like parks, tracks, hills and trails. Forget jogging for ages; by far the best calorie-burning activities are interval based. Short, hard bursts of activity followed by a recovery period. Think mountain biking, running up hills, sprint sessions, or a fun bootcamp or circuit-style workout class in the local park.
Tone and shape up
To shape your body as well as burn fat, you need to do some resistance training. Forget pumping iron in the gym - now's the time to get outside and workout in the fresh air. Join a local outdoor fitness class such as your town's best bootcamp, or a class which uses body weight exercises like squats, press ups, burpees and lunges. Or, work with a Personal Trainer who has expertise in outdoor resistance training workouts.
Get heart-healthy
Just 20 minutes fast-paced walking every day does wonders for your heart’s health. So get out there and explore your local area on foot, or make it your mission to replace a car journey with a walk when practical. This kind of cardiovascular exercise is excellent for your heart, lungs and circulatory system, helping offset the chances of heart disease as you age.
Better emotional health
Just being outside is great for your emotional health and mental wellbeing. After a long, wet winter, the chance to be out in the sunlight does great things for our bodies, hormones, mood and even our ability to lose weight. Did you know that vitamin D can only be made when our bodies are exposed to sunlight? And we don't need to remind you that being out in the sunlight, with open skies overhead, can lift your mood and make you feel more motivated and positive.
All-round fitness from the inside out
Exercising outside has so many benefits, from fresh air and sunlight, to the various challenges of using natural terrain underfoot. Whether you choose to sprint, cycle, walk, or sit and meditate in the spring sunshine, we urge you to get outside as often as you can.
Want to help people reach their fitness goals? Take a PT Course with The Training Room today!