The Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Outdoor Workouts

The Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Outdoor Workouts

Fitting in an outdoor workout can make you feel more energized, happier, and less tired than doing the same routine in the gym.
An outdoor workout can have monumental benefits for your mind and body. However you’re exercising your muscles in an outdoor workout, a cascade of other body benefits is going on in the background.
Here's how an outdoor workout can boost your health – inside and out.
 

1. The Elements Offer Their Own Training Perks

Sand is the fitness gift that keeps on giving. For plyometric activities like
running or jumping, it translates to less impact,  and also about 30 percent more calorie burn than solid ground.
For runners, even flat terrain requires more muscle to stride on than a treadmill. As for road cycling, she says aerodynamic drag accounts for 70 to 90 percent of the resistance felt when pedaling.
Just by taking your workout outside — whether you’re running, jumping, or biking — you’re boosting the burn.
 

2. You'll Enjoy Your Outdoor Workout Way More

Time seems to go at half-speed when you run on a treadmill, so much so that even a one-mile jog can feel mentally and physically draining. The reason is likely linked to exercising indoors.
Researchers divided 42 healthy adults into three groups: One group hiked outdoors for 45 minutes, another group walked on a treadmill indoors for 45 minutes,  while the control group did nothing over the course of the study.They then had participants rate their mood, feelings, and arousal.

The hiking group reported feeling more awake, energized, attentive, happy, and calm as well as having more positive emotions overall than did those on the treadmill. The hikers also said they felt less fatigued after their workout. Basically, the hikers' workout felt easier physically and mentally, even though outdoor hikers and indoor treadmill walkers did the same amount of exercise.
 

3. Outdoor Workouts Offer a Mental Health Boost

What  is it, exactly, about exercising outdoors that makes it feel so much
better? It has to do with the powerful combination of exercise and exposure to nature. The physical activity is invigorating while seeing nature relieves stress. And the two together provide a benefit beyond either one alone. Research has also suggested that just five minutes in nature is all it takes for our brain to start thinking differently and for us to experience a more relaxed disposition.
 

4. They Improve Your Overall Well-being

Being in the environment reduces the body’s stress-response reactivity, lowers
inflammation, and improves the immune system. What's more, banking at least 120 minutes a week in nature, whether in regular doses or in one long stretch, is associated with good health and well-being.
 

5. Outdoor Workouts Help You Exercise Longer – and Get Stronger

Being active outdoors reduces perceived effort and allows individuals to work
at higher workloads, which may help increase the amount of physical activity undertaken and motivation to continue.
           
Of course, it's not always possible to do an outdoor workout, and gyms have their upsides — protection from the elements when you need it, plus amenities like childcare, group classes, and personal training to name a few. But it's well worth your while to get sweaty with Mother Nature when you can.
 

Sources: Shape.com