Work out outdoors - no electricity needed
Love group classes, but hate the gym? Then you'll love outdoor workout clubs. Not only is exercising outdoors the greenest option, but according to a study from California Pacific Orthopedic and Sports Medicine quoted in Fitness Magazine, outdoor exercisers lost an average of 7.43 pounds and 6.17 percent of body fat in eight weeks.
This is due to the constant challenges that the outdoors provides: inclines, declines, rough terrain, and natural obstacles (rain, wind, rocks, etc). Not to mention inhaling fresh air as opposed to recirculated gymnasium air.
Take Ultimate Bootcamp, for instance. This Boston-based company offers 4-week, 4 day-per-week group training; "blast" sessions (one-time, 90 minute sessions); and personal training options - all outdoors. Rain or shine, you're exercising outside, using body weight as resistance as opposed to free weights, and heart-pumping cardio you can do on trails instead of treadmills.
- Milwaukee's Adventure Boot Camp for Women (and Men) is an intense 4-week program designed to tone your body and improve your confidence. And there's a location in South Florida, too.
- This Philadelphia trainer's aptly named Muscle Group definitely works all of yours (muscles, that is) with non-stop heart-pumping cardio, plyometrics, and body-weight exercises (push-ups and planks, anyone?), that, believe me, definitely get the job done.
- Manhattanites and tourists, look no further: The Times has mapped out the running paths in Central Park, which you can download as you listen to people describe their favorite Park trails.
- Orange County's self-proclaimed "premiere" fitness club, Outdoor Fitness Adventure Club takes you through boot camps, hiking, trail running, and more, all amidst gorgeous California backdrops.
- In Portland, Oregon, Take It Outside Fitness is the brainchild of one spunky woman and her goal of taking fitness from the gym to the outdoors.
Don't live in a large city? Try Fitness Magazine's 30-minute outdoor workout or BodyBuilding.com's outdoor summer fun workout, both of which will get your heart pumping no matter where you are.
Or check out our sister blog, That's Fit, for some tips on fun summer sports, like kayaking and speedminton.
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