Outdoor physical activity is not just great for getting fit, but it actually improves your overall health. It improves your lung capacity, helps you get more vitamin D, and enhances your ability to fight stress. According to numerous studies, physical activity outdoors lowers the blood pressure and heart rate of the person in question, which is a massive boon to one’s cardiovascular health.
Apart from this, spending time outdoors is fun. Seeing as how every indoor sport might have some sort of outdoor alternative, this could also prove to be a way you can provide some variety to your fitness regimen.
There are some downsides to outdoor sports, as well. First of all, it is weather and climate-dependent. Some activities cannot be done outside during the colder part of the year (at least they cannot be done comfortably). Also, mud, frost, or even dew might make things somewhat difficult. These downsides, however, are situational, and they are not enough to dissuade you from pursuing outdoor fitness.
With all of this in mind and without further ado, here are some of the best fat-burning outdoor sports and fitness activities you should consider.
Individual sport
One of the reasons why individual sport is such an excellent thing for fitness is the fact that it helps you become more self-reliant and makes it easier for you to organize. For instance, like a baseball or a tennis player, you can practice your swing and serve, which are core skills in your tennis ability. If you’re trying to hone your basketball skills, you can’t exercise passing the ball or assisting on your own.
Also, in individual sports, you need one person to organize a match/sparring, while with group sports, the level of organization is much higher. Two people can coordinate their schedules much easier than 3-4 or more people.
Keep in mind that the majority of individual sports have outdoor alternatives. Even sports like racquetball can be exercised outside. This change of setting is alone a good reason enough to consider going outside.
Pure cardio
Another great idea for you is to consider pure cardio exercise activity. Running and fast walking are the first two things that come to mind. Other than this, you might also go cycling. If you want something more adventurous, you can go mountain biking or hiking. Provided that you have open pools or lakes nearby, you can go swimming.
The thing about pure cardio is that while some people find it to be boring, others prefer an activity that they can do with a clear mind. For instance, you can go on a hike and bring your earbuds in order to listen to your favorite audiobook. This way, you can achieve the next level piece of mind by being in touch with nature while simultaneously exercising and being culturally uplifted. It’s one of the rare win-win-win scenarios that you’ll encounter in life.
Street workout
The art of calisthenics is the concept of working out using your own body weight. The biggest advantage of this is that it’s completely free of charge and that you can work out anywhere you like.
Over the past decade or so, there’s been a boom in the popularity of outdoor gyms. While some of these gyms merely have some pullup and dip bars, there are some with barbells, dumbbells, and even kettlebells.
This is great for your strength, frugal and gives you a chance to maintain a better form. You see, the fact that you’re not using machines means that you need to demonstrate your own core stability. It also allows you to hit every muscle and feel like a badass while doing so. Needless to say, your brain-body connection will benefit you the most.
Extreme sports
Every extreme sport is an outdoor activity, which means that if you’re looking for something that’s high-adrenaline, you needn’t look any further. Paragliding, snowboarding, skiing, and water skiing are all outdoor activities. The same goes for snorkeling, diving, parachuting, and more.
Keep in mind that while these activities are incredibly dangerous, they provide you with some amazing health benefits. Also, since they’re a part of a lifestyle, it is quite possible that they will keep you motivated far better than various indoor activities.
Your performance during these extreme sports might be directly linked to your fitness, which creates a closed loop that you benefit from the most. To enjoy these activities, you need to get fit. Once you get fit, you enjoy them more, which urges you to try even harder.
Use the terrain to your advantage
The last thing you need to keep in mind is the importance of using the terrain to your advantage. Running is excellent for cardio, fitness, and fat burning. However, what about hill-sprinting? What about sprinting through sand? These unique terrain types give you resistance which makes you spend more energy to overcome them as obstacles.
Just keep in mind that these also make the risk of injury somewhat greater. This means that you need to properly stretch out before you start working out.
Scorching sand will also be a great motivator when it comes to jumping exercises. It will remind you whenever you remain inactive for too long. This makes it great for burpees, jump lunges, and jumping jacks.
On top of it all, once you really get in shape, there’s nothing better than being able to immediately show off your physical prowess at the beach. Remember that the freedom to customize your workout sessions also contributes to this quite a bit. Finding new excuses to look good is always going to be worth your while.
In Conclusion
In the end, sports and physical activities are great regardless if you do them indoors or outdoors. However, going outside will make the experience fresher, more inviting, and more stimulating. It will give you a chance to find your center and get in touch with both your spiritual and physical sides. Overall, it just feels more natural, seeing as how mankind was always meant to perform physical feats outdoors. While this may sound a bit too simplistic, it is, nevertheless, the truth.
