Too often human adulthood is comparable to a hamster running on a wheel. The routine of every day life seems to fall into the get up, go to work, go to the gym, make dinner, watch TV, go to sleep mode, leading to an unshakable cycle that comprises your life. This austerely-put realization should not be depressing in any way, it should propel you to start mixing things up a little bit. The nine to five job probably won’t have room to change so the most effective way to shake things up is to take your gym workout to the outdoors! 1 Your life doesn’t have to be an adventure every day, but it should at least be fun!
CrossFit™
If you’re looking for something to pump you up, CrossFit may be for you, because it sure isn’t for wimps. You can check out the main website at http://www.crossfit.com/ but local CrossFit groups also have their own websites. To the average looker, CrossFit looks hard core, and for some it is a lifestyle of its own. But the regular Joe or Jane has a place in this work out regime too. It is about versatile exercises that take you outside the walls of the gym and onto the streets or fields of your neighborhood.
A basic workout is comprised of a set of exercises such as the “Kelly,” which is a 400 meter run, then maximum rep pull-ups. Sounds easy… right? Not exactly, CrossFit is all about speed, so for the Kelly you do those two things as many times as you can within 20 minutes. Sure its only 20 minutes but this is a non-stop sprint, you go for your best record each time, pushing yourself to do just one more run or one more push-up set just one more time. Sometimes workouts are a team effort. One weekend you may find yourself and two friends pushing a car down a football field or dividing up a strenuous workout between the three of you to compete for a best time. The speed thing is really what gets your muscles pumping and will leave you sore for weeks, I would know.
CrossFit does have a green aspect to it as well. First, in most cases no facilities need to be built and all exercises can be completed outside in the sunshine. CrossFit work outs are most always or at least encouraged to be done in a group. CrossFit is supportive of its members and successfully establishes a community working together to become all around physically fit. And unlike a run or a swim where you find yourself making the same loop daily or swimming to and fro for hours, CrossFit provides a different work out everyday. You can involve friends to time you and help you push through or go on your own to a park or beach. Every day you will be challenged with something your body is not used to doing.
Trail Running
So for all you running fanatics, or just those of you looking to get started but don’t like the idea of a treadmill or busy intersections, I have an improvement for you to consider: trail running. Trail running is like adventure racing because you’re outside and you’re never sure what twist and turns lay ahead, or what wildlife you may spot on the way. Running on trails is more calorically beneficial to your body because the path is continually surprising with little jumps over rocks, quick movements to avoid roots, or steep ups and downs that your muscles weren’t expecting. Chance body movements make your body work just a little bit harder and change a boring run into a hard work out with pleasant aesthetics.
If you’re looking to shed the pounds and running is the most viable resource available, the most effective way to do so within your given time is to incorporate sprints. Like I said before, anything that surprises your body will force it to burn more calories to figure out what you’re up to. Run for 10 minutes and once you feel warmed up pick a land mark and sprint as fast as you can. Thirty strides is a good start for a sprint distance. Once you sprint, you can slow down but keep jogging! Don’t stop. You need to work on your speed and endurance so keep trucking along! The more sprint intervals you can incorporate into your run the better, the purpose of exercise is to accelerate your heart rate and the change from faster to slower to faster beats forces your heart into working overtime. People who use these routines typically tend to be in better shape than those who just run at one pace for a given amount of time.
Magazines
Whether you are male or female there are innumerable amounts of fitness magazines for all shapes and sizes that are constantly looking to diversify exercise to make it exciting for viewers. Since not all people enjoy visiting the gym or just can’t afford it, the majority of these workouts take place outside using the body and maybe some light weights or an exercise ball. If you don’t have weights, not a problem. Fill up an old plastic water bottle with either sand or water, depending on the size of the bottle or the strength of your biceps, to substitute your lack of equipment. This is recycling and a reduction of consumerism in one! Go to your local bookstore and browse through the fitness section. Every publication offer something different so browse through all of them to get ideas and make sure to check out fitness magazines online! Try to pick exercises that fit within your time and fitness abilities and help you stay outside! Your body will get the most out of it and your mood will also get a lift!
