Fortunately, our understanding of physical fitness is improving alongside our desire for more engaging exercise activities, If you’re looking to improve your health, but the boredom of a regular gym routine has got you down. Try incorporating these everyday exercise ideas into your life.
Hiking
“Walking?!” Many of you might be thinking, what could I mean by endorsing that most boring of activities as a fun alternative to working out. To you I say, what you hate is walking, but hiking is different from walking. When you go walking for its own sake, you’re just plodding along until you go for however far or however long you’ve assigned yourself for this prescribed exercise activity. No wonder you’re bored. Hiking is about taking in the world around you and any walking that you happen to do along the way is simply instrumental to the pleasure you’re getting from nature. This makes hiking a great way to exercise without feeling like you’re exercising. If you’re worried because you don’t have any hiking trails near where you live, no need to worry. You can get much the same experience in your city’s own parks. Look for things like this list of Philadelphia parks for your local area to get some ideas about where to hike.
Swimming
It turns out that swimming is great for giving your muscles a good workout. Depending on your swimming pool exercise routine, doing your physical activities in water can either help you to ease into more difficult workouts or step your usual workout up another level with the added resistance of water all around you. Who knew that the ultimate symbol of backyard relaxation was also such an effective way to exercise?
Biking
Commuting by bicycle is something that more and more health conscious people are doing these days. It turns out that by leaving the car at home, you can get some great cardio in while doing your part to help the environment. It also helps that more and more cities are catering to their biking populations by providing safe bike lanes and innovative programs that will encourage citizens to get out on two wheels more often. If you’re just starting out with biking, try traveling back and forth to recreational events before you switch over to a totally car-free commute. For example, why not ride your bike to that baseball game that you’re going to see this weekend?
Rock Climbing
Nothing is more fun or provides a more complete workout than rock climbing. Pulling yourself up a sheer cliff is exhilarating, works every single muscle in your body just as well or better than the machines at the gym, and keeps your mind sharp by honing your problem solving skills. It’s the perfect solution for weary gym-goers who are tired of feeling like a hamster on a treadmill. If horror stories about the cost of climbing have you worried, fear not. Indoor bouldering (climbing on walls less than 15 or 20 feet tall) has taken off lately and is incredibly safe with large foam mats placed beneath climbers. Unlike traditional climbing, bouldering does not require a wallet-busting collection of gear. All you need is a pair of beginners climbing shoes and a gym membership to get started. That said, if you do decide to go the full gear route and tackle iconic climbs like Half Dome in Yosemite, take a tip from me and find yourself some kind of storage locker to keep your gear organized. There’s nothing more agonizing than spending $100 on a set of nice quickdraws only to have them disappear in a mess of equipment.
Lead a Healthy Lifestyle
All the great workouts in the world won’t help you if you get back from your hike, ride or climb and immediately open up a bag of Cheetos and a bottle of Mountain Dew. With new research showing that weight loss is as much a result of good exercise as it is maintaining a healthy microbiome, there’s more reason than ever to eat well on top of your fitness routine.
