Working out inside on a treadmill or weight bench can get, well, maybe a little boring. Staring at the wall or perhaps TV while you are working out can get a little monotonous. Personally, I love the gym – yes, even my low budget home gym, but sometimes you just want a change of scenery! One of the best ways to do that is to get outside and get moving! There are so many outdoor exercises that you can do and most (if not all) of them are FREE!
Some potential outside exercises are pretty obvious – you can go running, walking or hiking. If you are like me, running is not your favorite. However, if you go to a new or just pretty location, running can actually be a lot of fun. Try going to a fun walking trail, a park or other new location and running can be a lot more interesting. Hiking is an awesome outdoor exercise. You can really get on some cool hiking trails and do some fun exploring all while getting fit.
Another outdoor exercise that you can do for free is gardening.
What? You might be thinking that gardening is NOT exercise. But, trust me, it REALLY is. Gardening is A LOT of hard work – pulling weeds, tilling soil, planting, even harvesting. There is a lot of digging, squating and bending involved. If you have ever spent any amount of time gardening, you know that you are likely to be tired and sore the next day.
Check this out for more on Gardening for Exercise.
Stair climbing, or some people will call them stadiums, is another outdoor exercise that you can do anywhere there is a big set of stairs. To be honest, this outdoor exercise is not my cup of tea. In fact, one time, in college during a weight lifting class we had to do stadiums and I almost lost my lunch.
Ok, so far we have talked about cardio exercises that you can do outside for free. But what about strength training?
There are all kinds of strength training outside exercises that you can do. Essentially, any bodyweight exercises – such as these no equipment leg exercises – can be done as outside exercises. You can also do upperbody exercises like push-ups, and dips outside. (Here is a whole list of equipment free ab exercises and equipment free arm exercises.)
To get in a good strength workout completely outside, you might have to get a little creative.
Look around and see what things you can use as part of your workout. You can use rocks as weights. You can use walls for wall squats or pushups.
Other outdoor exercises you can do for free can include things like jumping jacks, swimming, yoga, jumping rope. You can also include sports in outdoor activities – flag football, soccer, tennis. Really the sky is the limit on possible outdoor exercises that you can do for free.
Leave a Reply