Get Outside

Keeping along the same lines as my last email about Earthing it seems appropriate to mention outdoor training again since it's practically summer.

The weather is turning and it would be rude to train indoors when the sun's shining, because the sun IS NOT bad for us - far from it in fact! (maybe I'll share my thoughts on that in the next email... join the list by claiming your free gift via the box on the right here >>>)

We wait most of the year for good weather, then go and do stuff indoors when it's sunny!

Take your training outside whenever you can.

Summer is a great time to get outside and mix up your training a bit.

This weekend, I simply took a kettlebell into the garden and did my workout barefoot on the grass, in the sun.

You could do the same.

If you have any gym kit like kettlebells, dumbbells, club bells, medicine balls, resistance bands... you can take them outside and do your workout there.

Not forgetting bodyweight exercises, Animal Flow, Rope Flow etc.

The benefits of sunlight, fresh air and earthing are not to be overlooked, and there's nothing worse than going in the gym for your workout and looking out at the beautiful weather!

Yes, it's important to keep your training up, but unless you have one very specific goal that requires you to train in the gym, and only in the gym, you can mix it up a bit.

Train in the gym when the weather's not so good (there's still plenty of opportunity for this, even in the summer here in the UK), and when the weather's good - get outside and do something different.

You may be able to take your regular workout outside, especially if you go to the gym to walk/run on the treadmill!!

...or do something completely different.

Try some track workouts - running drills, sprints, hill work, bounding, skipping, hopping...

You could either seize the day when the weather's good and change things on the fly, or you could change the focus of your training for the summer months to incorporate more outdoor training and activities.

Your results won't suffer much if you swap a couple of gym workouts for something like climbing, mountain biking, paddle boarding, kayaking, a kick-around with the boys, or even an outdoor fitness class or bootcamp...

Just pick an outdoor sport and do that for a couple of months to increase coordination, reactions and functional movement, and, of course, vitamin D levels :)

Keep up your strength work. 2 workouts a week is enough to maintain strength levels if you're still doing other training too and it gives you a chance to work some conditioning and skills too.

You could even do your strength work outside if you have the kit available - strongman training is exceptional for strength and functional movement and is best suited to outdoors anyway! 

Grab some heavy kettlebells or a sandbag and go for a walk.

So don't skip workouts because it's too nice to go to the gym (it's just an excuse!).

And don't skip the sunshine because you want to do grunt work in the gym.

Combine the two. Train, but do it outdoors.

When it's raining - go to the gym.

(or embrace the elements and get wet!)

Now go outside!

Mark

P.s. Many of the workouts on MoveBetter.Club are suitable to do outside with minimal or zero equipment - if you haven't checked it out yet, go there now and sign up. It could change the way you train forever!

Outdoor Training

With the warmer weather finally here, it might be time to take your training outdoors. It’s not just for runners and cyclists, gym-goers can take training outside too.

There are many benefits to training outdoors:
- The fresh air is much nicer than the sweaty, air-conditioned gym air. 

- Sunshine (which has a whole host of health benefits and is something many people, especially in this country, don’t get enough of).
- Grounding/Earthing – getting your bare skin in contact with the earth has also been shown to have many health benefits.
- You can use different exercises to what you’re used to doing in the gym since you have more space and are away from machines. A great opportunity to mix up your training for a while.

Whilst there may not be any of the machines you’re used to using outdoors, and while you may still need to use the gym for some heavier resistance-based sessions, you can get a lot done with just your bodyweight and your surroundings.

Bodyweight exercises are great for both building strength and working on your conditioning – push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, burpees and many more are all great options that are always beneficial to work on. 

Mastering these basic bodyweight movements will always be complimentary to other weight training and general movement health.

The open space is a great chance to work on some sprints – something that too few people utilise, and that aren’t quite the same on a treadmill! (A word of caution though – build yourself up to these and always remember your limits. And warm-up very well first!)

Speed and agility work (with cones, speed ladders, hurdles etc.) is also great for athletic performance as well as general co-ordination. Practicing acceleration, deceleration, change of direction and foot speed is another great way to change up your training and reap the rewards.

Tied in with this you have lower intensity exercises such as yoga and stretching – which would be great to do outdoors in a peaceful setting.

Not forgetting the more traditional outdoor activities mentioned before like walking, running and cycling – these are always more enjoyable outside in the real world than in the gym on treadmills and stationary bikes.

Then you have outdoor classes like Bootcamps…

Here you can do many of the above-mentioned exercises and more. Some of these classes will have more equipment than just bodyweight and park benches, and you can really make the most of the combination of the space to train and all the options that brings, with the resistance work offered by the equipment.

They’re also likely to have different equipment to what you’ll find in most gyms or different ways to use it.
Tyres, kettlebells, sleds, medicine balls, battling ropes, sledgehammers and more are often used to great effect in outdoor sessions.

The main point I’m trying to get across here, is to make the most of the good weather! You’re not limited to just training inside and the fresh air and sunshine will provide as much, or maybe even more benefit than the exercise itself.

Find some green space – local parks and fields, your garden, the beach… and just move!

www.MarkOneFitness.co.uk