Why Outdoor Fitness is Better Than a Gym

With beautiful weather, getting out and exercising seems very tempting. Outdoor exercise is usually compared with hitting the gym especially when considering the benefits. Exercising in general is very important to keep the body and mind fit and healthy. The major difference between outdoor exercise and going to the gym stems from the many benefits of outdoor exercise and why they are better than going to the gym.

An hour of exercise could either be spent running on the treadmill with a TV screen in your face, or outside running and enjoying beautiful blue skies and fresh air. Some of the advantages of outdoor exercise over the gym are discussed below.

The first benefit has to do with the effect of nature on your health. Studies have revealed that simply looking at the beautiful scenery that nature paints can help to lower blood pressure. Mental fatigue and stress can be also reduced thanks to nature. You therefore should consider taking your workout routines outside.

It has also been discovered that exercising outdoors could help improve the metal well-being and self-esteem of the person involved. It also helps to fight depression. This makes outdoor exercise even more important to those that are weighed down due to the stress of work and life in general. This fact is still related to the impact of nature on the body with studies stating that exposure to plants could help decrease the levels of cortisol – a stress hormone, in the body.

Motivation is also critical in exercising and that gives outdoor exercise an edge over going to the gym. Half of the people that go for gym membership skip their programs within a year of commencement with the outdoor folk being more consistent. So for persons having troubles with motivation, outdoor exercise is the way forward!

There are a numerous outdoor workouts and being a member of a fitness group would make it even easier to benefit from outdoor exercise as you are able to leverage the strength of other members of the group.