Who says you need to go to a gym to exercise?

For some reason, the greater population seems to think that when it comes to exercise you either need to :

1.     Be a member of a gym

2.     Have lots of time

3.     Have lots of money

Well, I am here to tell you, that believe it or not, this is far from the truth! Think about what people did to exercise and keep fit prior to the explosion of 24hr fitness centers, home workout DVD’s, ab crunchers and Chuck Norris total gyms! They didn’t mope around the house wishing they could look like the fitness model on TV demonstrating the latest Butt blaster 2700 elite pro!

They found an alternative – one that was free, provided an abundant amount of oxygen, fresh air, sunlight and freedom. It was a gym that had been around for 1,000’s of years but yet, not many people knew about it. It was called…

‘The Outdoors’

We are so caught up these days by what we need to ‘Have’ to be able to exercise and stay fit that we forget about what we have already got at our fingertips that can provide us with a welcome alternative to the treadmill, cross trainer or bench press.

You see, one of the benefits of working out in the great outdoors is that your possibilities are endless. Opening and closing hours, smelly guys in the weights room or horrible music in the pump class do not restrict you from taking 20 or 30 minutes out of your day to get active. We are so lucky in this country of ours to be surrounded by endless bicycle paths, hiking tracks, walking clubs, running groups and more. Yes, our weather isn’t always conducive to exercising outside, however when it is, why don’t we take more advantage of it?

Some examples of activities you can do in the outdoors include:

• Walking – around the streets or go for a hike
• Cycling
• Running
• Play on the playground with your kids (or by yourself!)
• Find a park bench and do some dips and step ups
• Surfing
• Rock climbing
• Skiing
• Ocean swimming
• Triathlons / Ironman / Adventure racing / Obstacle courses

Not only do these wonderful activities to get your overall body healthy, fit and strong but you can get outside and do them with your kids! How good is that!

Exercise doesn’t always equal indoors. Exercise doesn’t always equal boring. And exercise doesn’t always equal expensive.

So next time you are lacking motivation to get to the gym, just look outside your front window, there will always be something exciting to do out there!

Written by Brian Nasr

Rumbles Paleo cofounder and director

Personal trainer Ignyte Gym

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to download our free 10 minute exercise program you can download and complete in the great outdoors! Click here  or on the image to your right, to get your hands on it now!