If you have heard of boot camp workouts but have never given them a try, you may be wondering if outdoor workouts are for you. It’s a fact that most people live an increasingly indoor lifestyle, making outdoor fitness seem a bit foreign. We tend to avoid what is foreign and stick with what is familiar, but we’d like to encourage everyone not to let the great outdoors be a stranger. In this blog post, we will look at just a few of the advantages that outdoor fitness has over indoor fitness.
1. Increase your balance and proprioception
Proprioception is the understanding of where your body is in space. It’s how you can raise food to your mouth without looking, walk with your eyes closed, or avoid inadvertently whacking hard objects when you swing your hand. However, when we are indoors, we always walk on perfectly level surfaces and encounter perfectly-placed objects. Therefore, our brains don’t have to work as hard to make the micro-adjustments in our poise and balance when we navigate these safe, predictable objects. When you walk on sand or grass, your brain is constantly telling your feet and core muscles to making extra mini-adjustments to keep you from tripping, and these things improve your overall stability as well as boosting your proprioception.
2. Breathe phytoncides and negative ions
There’s a concept in Japan called “forest bathing” that has caught on in recent years and involves taking trips to the forest to be around the trees. Trees emit oils called phytoncides, and breathing in these particles has antimicrobial health benefits. And it has been well known for centuries that there are benefits from breathing in sea air. This air is charged with negative ions that actually help to increase our oxygen consumption.
3. Let the sun shine on you
While it’s true that too much sun exposure can have negative effects on our skin, a balanced amount of exposure to the sun builds Vitamin D and has a beneficial effect on skin disorders like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and fungal infections. Exposure to bright sunlight can also reduce your chances of having Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
4. Reduce your stress and sleep better
Going outside comes with many benefits, from reducing stress to sleeping better. The complexities of the outdoors affect us in ways we don’t even realize, in all our senses. We’ve already looked briefly at the benefits of the smell of the forest. Our hearing and sight play a role as well. The sounds of the sea and the wind in the trees is relaxing and soothing, and studies have even looked at the way the color green helps exercise to feel easier.
All these benefits of going outside point to the logic of making Boot Camp your regular workout. Why confine yourself to the sterile indoors when the great outdoors is waiting for you? Join us today at Boot Camp San Francisco and you’ll see why so many people are raving mad fans for this style of workout. We look forward to having you join us!
