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Just the other day, I overhead a couple of women at my gym complaining that they weren’t able to sign up for two cardio machines side-by-side. The dilemma, it appeared, wasn’t that there were no cardio machines available, just not two next together, so they wouldn’t be able to pass the time gabbing. I understand that talking seems to make time pass without notice, however, if you are able to carry on such a conversation while you’re “exercising,” you aren’t working out all that hard. And here is reason #467 – why I loathe the gym – there is too much talking going on and not enough exercising. Back to my original point – if exercising and talking must occur as a package deal, why not go outside and take a long walk? When the gym is crowded, hot, noisy, and unproductive – make the world your gym instead. Think about it – anything you do in the gym can be replicated outside.
Lunges, push-ups, dips, step ups, calisthenics…you name it. You don’t even need equipment – gravity is the ultimate resistance tool! Combine that with hills, benches, stadium steps, playground equipment, logs, rocks and portable equipment, such as tubes, bands and weighted balls, and you have a workout that is incredibly challenging and refreshingly different.
Another benefit to training outdoors is its real-life applicability. While machines confine you to restrictive motor patterns, they don’t mimic real-life situations very well. Outdoors, you won’t have to wait in line for equipment, listen to the hum of 50 treadmill motors, or have to wonder if the sweaty guy who just exited the leg press machine wiped it down thoroughly, or at all.
And, nature is FREE!
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[...] that was shocking: Americans spend 90% of their time indoors! Say what?!?! I think it is time to step out into the fresh air (more than 10% of the time) and starting reaping the many benefits Mother Nature [...]