14 Jun A Well-Rounded Summer Workout: Fun in & out of the Sun
Summer is finally here, and you know what that means – a shift in your daily routine. Free time previously spent indoors becomes hours by the pool, at the park, or on your deck. Quick meals grabbed on your way home from work are swapped out for family BBQs or s’mores by the bonfire. And of course, your once strict gym schedule has become intermittent in favor of finding ways to capture the blue skies, warm breeze, and sunshine. As great as it is to hang out on long sunny days, it should go without saying that summer is also a great season to stay active and fit. Exercise outdoors is a wonderful thing, and supplementing it with an indoor fitness regime is even better! Start your summer workout with Faster Fitness today!
THE BENEFITS OF SUMMER EXERCISE
There’s no question that you want to maximize your time spent outside. You spend more than enough time indoors. After a long day of work, a walk before dinner with your dog is a common way that many choose to unwind while staying active.
The warm weather offers you a wide variety of activities that you may not want to take advantage of when the leaves are falling or the temperature drops. Is there anything better than spending a weekend at the lake, soaking up the sun while you kayak through the crisp water? Or spending a day in the wilderness, hiking through the mossy trails with your friends. Who can forget about a rousing game of tennis or 18 holes of golf? These experiences are in fact, the essence of summer itself. The change of scenery can boost our mood and invigorate us to actively embrace fitness.
Another benefit to summer exercise lies in the ability to soak up the sun – more specifically, that Vitamin D. After months of indoor life, your body craves the warm feeling of the sun on your skin. There is evidence that links low levels of the vitamin to an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone pain, and, perhaps more serious, cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus, and lymphatic system. Luckily enough, summer activities allow you to not only work on your fitness, but take in all of the Vitamin D the sun has to offer. Just don’t forget your sunscreen!
THE HEAT IS ON!
Perhaps the weather is just too warm and humid; maybe it’s raining; perhaps the golf course is just way too crowded. No problem! Indoor exercise is still an incredibly vital component to working out and staying fit. Most importantly, indoor fitness classes provide reliability. You never have to worry about about the weather! When you exercise indoors, there is no reason to worry about whether or not you should bring a jacket or if you have to tie it around your waist for the rest of your run if you get too warm.
Exercising indoors allows for a consistent external temperature, which is very important to you internally. If the body sweats a lot, such as during exercise on a hot day, the body can lose a lot of water and become dehydrated. The body may then have insufficient water to make sweat, so the body’s core temperature may continue to rise. This can be very dangerous! When you exercise in a climate-controlled environment like a gym, your hypothalamus (the part of the brain that controls body temperature, thirst, hunger, and other homeostatic systems), keeps your body temperature at a safe level. If you exercise in hot, humid conditions, evaporation is less likely to cool you down effectively.
BALANCE THE OUTDOOR WITH THE INDOOR
It is important to remember that these outdoor fitness activities utilize a different set of muscle groups than the indoor training we do at Faster Fitness or what you might find at our neighboring St. Louis gyms. A fitness enthusiast may do well to take advantage of the benefits of the outdoors, while also maintaining an indoor regime. This provides your muscles with balance. If you cycled or ran outside, you should come indoors for a group fitness class. This gives your running/cycling muscles some time to recover while you work other important muscles. Balance is good for our bodies.
Another benefit to indoor exercise is the ease in tracking your progress. Treadmills and ellipticals automatically keep track of your distance, heart rate, and calories burned; taking all of the work out of the workout. One of the things we started doing earlier this year is monitoring all of this while giving you a free range of motion with the MZ-3 MyZone Fitness Belt. This comprehensive tool tracks your stats while you work out. This way you never have to worry about accidentally leaving it at home. This gets a tad more difficult when you are outside. You may need to calculate the length of your run or number of laps required to meet the same fitness goals you are consistently reaching at an indoor facility.
Our Group Personal Training Program is a great way to make sure you stay in top shape during the summer. A group of instructors and peers not only makes the class fun, but it holds you accountable! There’s just something about having a class later in the day that ensures you to stay motivated and not slack off, should the enticing offer of a relaxing BBQ come along. Not to mention, Group Personal Training offers a wide variety of exercises, focusing on strength training, cardio, and metabolic conditioning. These classes ensure that you are getting the most well-rounded workout possible. To top it off, you have an instructor readily available as well as a group of people all striving to be their best self, and they want to help you do the same!
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Who says you can’t have it all? In the world of exercise, not only can you have it all, but you should have it all! While it is hard to say no to endless days spent outside while the weather’s still warm, it’s important to remember that you owe it to yourself to ensure you get the best workout possible. Headed to the lake for the weekend? Go for it! Take advantage of the kayaks, paddle boats, and of course some burgers and hotdogs. Just don’t forget that when you get back, it will benefit you to head into a gym to ensure that you make up for the muscle areas you may have missed while you were away for the weekend. So mix it up – balance your outdoor fun with indoor fitness too!
