11 Reasons Outdoor Workouts Put Expensive Indoor Gyms To Shame

Now is the time to get outside. Spring has arrived, and the city is brimming with life, yet those aren’t the only reasons to get out and reunite with the natural world. It’s also an ideal time to reap the many benefits of moving your workouts from a crowded gym to the picturesque outdoors the Bay Area is famous for. Still not sure you want to leave the air conditioning and fancy equipment at your favorite gym? That’s okay! Just hear us out! Read on for 11 science-backed reasons to ditch your indoor gym for outdoor workouts.  

I love workout, outdoors! ~ Leslie. Member since 2009

1.You Burn More Calories. 

While indoor workouts involve flat surfaces in climate-controlled environments, outdoor workouts challenge your body with variable terrain and unique environmental conditions, like wind and rain. The uneven surfaces like hills, sand, or snow plus other forms of resistance all contribute to a higher calorie burn, a stronger core, and improved cardiovascular fitness. Often, these conditions, running up hill, for example, also engage muscles you don’t use during a typical gym workout. Identify the right location, such as where sand meets the water, and you can burn up to 30% more calories than you would during an indoor gym class on solid ground. 

2.The Kick-Ass Vitamin D Benefits 

In addition to the endorphins provided by exercise, outdoor workouts help us increase our vitamin D as well. While we can get vitamin D by consuming certain foods, such as fish or dairy, our bodies produce it D naturally through sunlight exposure. Most people know vitamin D can improve mood and fight depression, but it actually does far more. Vitamin D also strengthens bones and muscles, builds immunity, fights inflammation, supports weight loss, prevents cognitive decline, aids in the treatment of hypertension, and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. What more could you ask for?

Despite the vitamin’s importance, experts at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania found alarming results when they analyzed the two years of results from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Many Americans suffered from vitamin D deficiency levels, with a 41.6% prevalence of deficiency overall, 82% for African Americans, and 69.2% for Hispanics. If you don’t have an outdoor hobby, find one fast! Your body will thank you. 

3.They Provide Superior Stress Reduction. 

Spending time in nature helps reduce the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your system. But it’s not just the green spaces that lead to this health benefit. The pairing of nature and exercise is clearly effective. A Glasgow University study with 2,000 participants found the mental health benefits of outdoor exercise were greater than those of a gym workout by 50%.  

4.The Scenery is Unbeatable. 

Even if you’re lucky enough to score a treadmill or elliptical machine with an attached TV or your high-end gym has a juice bar and a spa, the scenery can get old pretty quick. Outdoor workouts can mean enjoying the beauty of your backyard garden or soaking in the sunrise from the beach or hilltops in the bay area, as we do at The City is Our Gym. These simple beauties remind us how lucky we are to live in such a picturesque area and help us set a positive tone for our day. More importantly, they never get old! Unlike the permanent, rather uninteresting structures in indoor gyms, the natural world around us is constantly changing.

5.Encourages More Effective Mindfulness 

Many outdoor exercises employ a mindfulness tactic known as grounding, also known as earthing, which helps focus and improves one’s ability to remain fully in the present. With the diverse environment available outside, participants can connect with nature on a deeper level through informal activities such as walking barefoot on the sand or grass. It all stems from the idea that the earth has a negative surface charge. When a human stands barefoot on the land, your body equalizes with the earth’s charge, creating an uplifting shift in your physiology.  

Because of this, some experts believe earthing produces stronger effects than more formal meditations. In fact, a review of 25 studies totaling approximately 3,000 participants determined that informal mindfulness activities that take place in nature, like grounding, produce more health benefits than formal mindfulness meditations conducted in man-made and indoor settings. 

6. Fresh Air Makes All Difference 

Fresh air is powerful. It has higher levels of oxygen than indoor air, which helps the blood vessels in your lungs to expand. As a result, your lungs can more effectively cleanse themselves of pollutants, which is critical for a good night’s sleep. Fresh air is also known to lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve digestion, and more. In a study published in the Journal of Aging and Health, older adults over 70 who spent time outside faced fewer is with struggled less with sleep, pain, and mobility. 

7. Smells Like Vacation (not sweat and Lysol)

Natural scents such as ocean air, dirt, and trees are refreshing and put us in a low-stress mindset. Plus, they smell way better than the sweaty socks and body odor scent that lingers in the air at indoor gyms or the chemical disinfectants gym owners use to mask less appealing aromas.

8. Produces a Stronger Energy Boost!

Research published by the Journal of Environmental Psychology found people have an increased sense of vitality (beyond the energizing effects of physical activity and social interaction) after spending time in nature. The University of Rochester “principal researcher on these findings calls nature “fuel for the soul” even suggested a mere 20 minutes in nature can provide an alternative comparable to a cup of coffee. Another study completed by Austria’s University of Innsbruck tested three groups, totaling 42 adults: a hiking group, an indoor treadmill group, and a control group, who didn’t complete physical activity and remained indoors. Each group took part in their assigned activity for 45 minutes, then rated their mood and energy levels. Results indicated that even though the hikers completed the same amount of exercise as the treadmill users, they felt less tired than the treadmill walkers following their workouts. The hikers also rated their workouts as less demanding, physically and mentally, than participants who used the indoor treadmills.

9. Supports Memory and Helps You Focus

That mid-day round of golf or lunchtime trail run may have more value than you think. After all, it’s been shown that outdoor exercise supports memory at focus, two critical workplace skills. In one study, college students asked to recall number sequences performed better following a 2 to 4-mile walk outside. 

10. Limits Your Exposure to Bad Bacteria 

Whether it is fear of COVID-19 or another type of infection, you’re to be afraid at an indoor gym. 

Research shows that the surface of indoor gym equipment is overrun with dangerous bacteria. Staph, salmonella, and HPV are just a few of the disturbing infections you can contract from gym equipment and facilities, not to mention COVID-19 or whatever variation is currently out there. A survey of over 1,000 gym-goers found that over 50% of both men and women had witnessed someone not washing their hands after using the restroom. Yuck!

As for coronavirus, we may be on our way to minimizing it's threat. However, even with a vaccine it could be a year or more before we reach herd immunity. Plus, even those who are vaccinated remain at risk of catching recently discovered variations of the virus. Enclosed spaces with fans blowing respiratory droplets around may still pose a greater risk than many realize. Consider the case of the two Hawaii fitness instructors, detailed in a recent New York Times article, who contracted COVD-19 during a short, socially-distanced indoor spin class. One of those instructors went on to infect 11 other people through indoor personal training and kickboxing the next few days. In the same Times article, Linsey Marr, a professor and leading expert on viral transmission, explained that during workouts, people breathe more heavily, so anyone infected with COVID-19 releases four times the normal amount of virus in the air. Since the healthy people around them are also breathing more heavily, they take in 16 times more.infected air that in a nonexercise setting. That doesn't sound like the greatest odds for not getting sick. 

Fortunately, when you exercise outside, the airflow and ventilation are better and respiratory droplets can disperse more effectively, limiting the chance of air transmissions. Plus, if you use equipment, you’re sharing it with far fewer people, again minimizing your risk of getting sick.

11. Builds Confidence.                                                                                                                                      As little as five minutes a day outside can have a significant impact on your self-esteem, according to a multi-study analysis completed by the Green Exercise Research Team at the University of Essex and published by the American Chemical Society. While all green exercise environments improved individual wellbeing, namely confidence, and mood, researchers found that participants who completed their workouts, which involved everything from walking and cycling to planting trees, near a body of water saw the most improvement. 

Start experiencing some of the benefits of outdoor exercise yourself! Enroll in one of The City is Our Gym’s classes today! Coach B, an award-winning personal fitness and wellness coach, is dedicated to helping you reach your fitness goals no matter what level you’re at!