The No Gym, Outdoor Workout

When it comes to staying physically active, finding the motivation to get started and stay on track can be hard. There can be a lot excuses that we tell ourselves: I don’t have the time, I’m too tired, I don’t like exercise, I don’t have the money for a gym membership, I don’t know what I should be doing to get in shape. You might be pressed for time (who’s not?), you might be tired (look at your diet/sleeping patterns), you might not like exercise (maybe you are thinking of it the wrong way), and you might have limited knowledge and financial resources, but I can promise you that there are ways around and out of these obstacles and excuses we tell ourselves.

I’ll talk about the others in another post, but for today I’d like to break this myth that you have to have a gym membership to get in shape.

The simple fact is YOU DON’T! If you take a look outside, there is an entire “gym” surrounding you and tons of exercises that you can do using your own body as resistance and the ground below you as a “treadmill”.

One of the best places to find an “outdoor gym” is your local park. The park bench is great for tricep dips. That old tire or a big rock can be perfect for push ups. How about using the children’s monkey bars to build some upper body strength?

I used to be a gym rat, on the treadmill running and running and going nowhere and feeling pressured to get off the machine so the next person could use it. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that the gym is bad or not a highly useful resource. (For example, I used to often workout at my gym at night afterwork for safety reasons. ) What I am saying is that being outside while exercising has many benefits that you can’t get at a gym. One, you get fresh air. Think about it…many of us are stuck inside all day. Isn’t it nice to see some sunshine or feel the breeze against your skin? Two, you can use that time to hang with your family or friends; they might not be gym members and would otherwise not be able to exercise with you. And three, IT COSTS NOTHING!! You could even take that extra $30-50 a month you spend on your gym membership and hire a health counselor to work with you one on one (shameless plug). Seriously, you could save some serious dough over time and wipe that “It costs to much” excuse right off the board.

If you live somewhere where the winter weather is just too cold for your liking for an outdoor workout, consider freezing your gym membership once the weather gets warmer again. At one point when I had a gym membership, I used to do this. Typically I would freeze my membership from April to October and unfreeze it in the winter months when I could make more use of my membership.

I’ll be honest..I don’t do a full blown outdoor workout everyday. I am highly addicted to yoga and spend a lot of time at my studio (Can’t wait to talk to you guys about that!!) But I prefer to be outside on my bike, on a hike, at the beach, or at a park when I am not at the studio and want to get in some exercise. That way I am not only saving money, but my workouts feel more like play than another chore, and as an added bonus, I am getting some one on one time with Mama Nature!! And trust me, when I can practice yoga outside, I feel the best of both worlds have collided!

Take a look at the video for an idea of one of my outdoor workouts.
Need some more inspiration or ideas? Check out my friend, Al Kavadlo at www.AlKavadlo.com. He is a Personal Trainer who is all about outdoor, no-to-low equipment required workouts and even wrote an awesome book with sample regimen.

So how can you start getting more outside exercise in? And what will you do with all that money you will be saving?