Outdoor Cardio

Outdoor cardio is a great way to revive your stale winter workout, get some fresh air, socialize, explore your outdoor area regardless of where you live and perhaps most importantly, have fun, since the more fun your cardio workout is, the more likely you are to stick with it.

Note that calories burned per hour are approximate and based on a 150lb person.

In-line skating is a fun way to burn calories, (442/hour, for a 150 lb person) get some fresh air and explore your city. You can go much faster than walking so you will be able to cover more ground. It's also low impact and easy on the joints, unless you fall of course, so it's important to not go too fast until you are confident in your stopping skills (I still have scars from avoiding a 5 year old on a bike when I crashed into bushes to avoid hitting her on a bike path, so I speak from experience). It's also important to wear protective gear - helmet, knee, wrist and elbow pads so that if you do fall, you will have some protection. Since the scenery is always changing and it's low impact, the time will fly by when you're in-line skating so that you're able to do it for longer. I find that I can easily in-line skate for an hour, but would struggle to run for an hour since it's high impact and feels more like work than in-line skating does. I also find that it helps to in-line skate to music, so the time flies by even faster. As an added bonus, when I'm finished, I'm frequently surprised at how hard I am breathing, since I couldn't hear from the music and was having so much fun.

Hiking is the most addictive outdoor cardio activity I've taken up. I go at least once a week and when the days start getting longer will even try and fit in a short hike after work. Hiking allows you to explore mountains and outdoor regions that you may not have realized even existed. It also provides a continuing challenge since you can vary how far you go and how high (elevation gain) you go. A short hike is still likely 3-4 hours, in which you will burn 340 calories/hour, or just over 1000 calories for 3 hours of hiking. I don't know about you, but there aren't many outdoor cardio activities that I could do for that long without getting bored, which is another benefit of hiking.

For an added mental challenge you can also choose unofficial trails, which means that you will have to use your observation skills to find a trail. It's not uncommon in guide books to have ubiquitous directions such as "5km from the bridge on the west look for a small cairn (pile of rocks)." Being on the lookout for your next "trail marker", i.e. " a big tree on the east" will make you forget how hard you're working out. Note, that if you do choose an unofficial trail, give yourself plenty of day light and bring a lamp just in case. On more than one occasion, I've missed a marker or taken a "short cut" which is not usually a short cut. If you're new to hiking, have no fear, there are many well signed trails to choose from.

Perhaps the best thing about hiking is the rewards - how many other outdoor cardio actitivies reward your efforts with mountain vistas and pristine lakes, in addition to all the usual cardio benefits?

Why not enjoy the nice weather, socialize and get some exercise at the same time? Outdoor sports are a fantastic way to get in some outdoor cardio exercise and frequently challenge your body more than other activities due to the zig zagging and unpredictable movements you make while chasing after the ball or Frisbee. While chasing after a soccer ball you will burn 544 calories/hour and have the chance to lead your team to victory, while playing tennis you will burn just over 408 calories/hour while working on your back hand. Note that while you will also burn just over 300 calories/hour playing slow pitch, the cardio benefits may be negligible if you're just playing for the beer. I love playing Ultimate Frisbee and find that I push myself much harder trying to catch the Frisbee or score a point than I ever would just simply jogging. For me, by focusing on something else, like trying to catch a Frisbee I forget how hard I'm working and burn even more calories and the same is true in most sports.

Another great think about sports is that usually you join a league so you will be committed to attending practices and games, so this commitment is a great motivator since you won't want to let your team down, even if you don't really feel like going, which will likely quickly change once you start playing. Another added bonus is that it will already be in your calendar so you won't have the "no time" excuse which we're all guilty of at some time or another.

There are many more outdoor cardio activities out there as well - walking, running, biking, and swimming to name but a few, so why not move your exercise routine outdoors? You're sure to find an outdoor cardio activity or two that is perfect for you!