In last week’s post on my Good News for the Soul blog, I shared a few tips on how we could exercise safely this summer outdoors. Now I thought it would make sense to share some of the best outdoor workouts for women this summer. What better season to get yourself active outdoors? Some of these summer outdoor exercises will have you bike riding or even hiking up some hills. Let’s get to know four of them and their benefits.
Benefits of Summer Outdoor Exercises for Women
As was mentioned in last week’s blog post, summer outdoor exercises carry a lot of benefits for our health and wellness. It supports weight management in that it encourages consistent movement and burns calories. Besides exercises such as walking, hiking, and jogging being great for your heart health, you’ll also be strengthening your bone and muscle health. Did you know that 20 minutes in nature reduces stress hormones by 21%?
4 Best Summer Outdoor Exercises
Now that we may know how we can stay safe while exercising outdoors, let’s learn about what specific exercises are great for the summer outdoors. You probably might’ve implemented one or some of these exercises in your routine. If not, why not start doing this now? While there are plenty of fun outdoor exercises, here are four of the most common summer outdoor exercises.
Cycling
Cycling, or bike riding, is a low-impact cardio exercise that provides plenty of good health benefits. You could be able to lose weight, cholesterol, and improve your balance. It targets your glutes, hamstrings, calves, arms, legs, and shoulders, just to name a few. The great thing about cycling is that it’s suitable for all fitness levels.
Outdoor HIIT Workout
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) combines strength training and cardio to quickly raise your heart rate. These forms of exercise usually require little to no equipment. However, be sure to properly warm up before starting these exercises. There are three different forms of HIIT workouts- one involving no equipment you can do on grass or pavement, another that only requires you to use a jump rope and is good for improving full-body strength, and another which you can do on a soccer field or basketball court.
Hiking
This exercise is a very popular outdoor one that could help strengthen your lower body and your core. You’ll be activating a variety of muscles you didn’t know you had in stabilizing your body. It’s a great exercise because it builds endurance, and you’ll be relishing nature while burning some serious calories.
Tennis
Tennis is a fun outdoor sport that could strengthen both your lower and upper body. It’s also good for cardiovascular fitness because you’ll be running back and forth on the court. During a single session, a person of 170 pounds can burn 616 calories per hour. Tennis also helps in improving hand-eye coordination and agility. So slip on those tennis shoes, get your racquet, and start to hitting those tennis balls.
How You Can Stay Motivated with These Workouts
Staying motivated isn’t always easy, especially when it starts to become cold out. But you can do so by not making them feel like a chore. Make them feel enjoyable by bringing along a friend to keep you accountable. You can also set for yourself a summer workout schedule to stay consistent and balance your activities with rest. Setting weekly goals is another great way to stay motivated all summer long. Be sure to set realistic goals and track your progress along the way.
Summer outdoor exercises, when done safely and consistently, are great for strengthening your heart rate, improving your bone and muscle health, and boosting your mood. Try to start with activities you can enjoy to stay consistent. Please be sure to stay hydrated and safe out there this summer season.
What are your go-to summer outdoor exercises? Whether it’s one of these or something else, feel free to share your favorite outdoor exercises in the comments below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next woman you know who loves exercising.
