5 Benefits of Outdoor Fitness – That cannot be achieved in a gym

Outdoor fitness is one of the most effective ways of developing our physical, mental and emotional health.

Here are Five awesome benefits of using the outdoors as the context for our fitness program:

1. Physical Health: The sun is our main source of Vitamin D. By hanging out in the sun for longer, we benefit from improved brain, immune and cardiovascular system performance, reduced inflammation and better bone mineral density, to name but a few advantages.
2. Sleep: Getting outside in the morning activates our body’s “wake-up” signals which regulates the circadian rhythm – a key aspect of quality sleep. In addition, an improvement in Vitamin D intake from the sun as well as increased morning exercise leads to greater production of serotonin – an important hormone in sleep health.
3. Stress: Being outside amongst the green grass, tress, the blue sky and the sunrise promotes the feel-good hormones such as endorphins and serotonin that we need to maintain a positive and joyful mindset. When we are amongst nature, we naturally feel more relaxed and in a better mood that can set ourselves up for a win for the remainder of the day.
4. Adaptability to the real world: Being outside exercising in the elements takes us out of the comfort zone of a carpeted, air-conditioned gym and exposes us to the same elements and obstacles that we need to face every day as humans. There are no machines that do the work for you when you exercise outdoors, in fact you are the machine as you use your body to perform physical tasks that increase your strength, agility, coordination, balance and stamina skills in ways that cannot be achieved inside the four walls of a gym.
5. Variety of sports and movements: Being outside opens the door (literally) to a wider range of movements that cannot be performed correctly inside a gym. Basic sports such as running, walking and biking cannot be done with the correct technique or intent when using machines, and will never fully develop your neurological and musculoskeletal systems for the actual requirements needed to perform these tasks in the real world.