5 Incredible Reasons to Take Your Workouts Outside

Get your sweat on outside and burn more calories than indoor workouts.

Did you know just 5 minutes of walking outdoors is enough to reduce stress and increase your motivation to stay active? According to research, exercising outdoors is the biggest mental boost for your health. Here are 5 incredible reasons to take your workouts outside.

#1 Outdoor Yoga Boosts Your Self-Esteem

If you’re chasing that feel-good feeling, move your yoga practice to the park. In fact, many yoga poses gained their names from plants and animals. Practicing yoga outside allows you to embody the sense of the pose from its original source—nature. So, harness the strength and stability of a tree while you stand grounded in a tree pose (Vrksasana). Or, take flight like a bird in the crow pose (Kakasana). Just go with the flow and boost your self-esteem in the fresh air.

#2 The Heat is On

If your gym (or home) is like an icebox thanks to aircon, you’ll end up freezing your fitness gains. Exercising in warm weather makes your body work harder to cool itself down. The hotter your body gets, the more blood your heart pumps to expel the heat. Working out in hot temperatures significantly increases calorie and fat burn. Just remember, hotter temperatures require an increased intake of water. Stay hydrated—your health depends on it!

#3 Lose More Weight Outside

According to research, weight loss is significantly increased with outdoor activities—70 lbs more, in fact. That, coupled with a 6% reduction in body fat, makes for a great reason to take your fitness outside.

#4 Boost Your Immune System

Train like Tarzan. Scientists claim breathing in phytoncides—airborne chemicals produced by plants—increases the level of white blood cells in our body, helping us fight off infections and diseases. Being outdoors also gives you your daily dose of Vitamin D, which is essential for improved energy and a well-functioning body. Since we get most of our Vitamin D (90%) from sunlight, get out there and grab your daily dose!

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#5 Being Outdoors Makes Exercising Easier

Call it the placebo effect, but exercising outdoors makes it feel easier. Grass, trees and plants provide a psychological energy boost to your workout and put you in a positive mood. Trade-in your cross-trainer for a few laps around the park and reap the benefits of outdoor activity. Not only that, the Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity suggest you’ll log an extra half hour of training when you’re outdoors. That’s long enough to burn an additional 250 calories.

Let’s take this outside! And guess what? You can take Gymondo workouts with you. Just download your favorite workouts when you’re online and access them from anywhere, even when Wi-Fi is nowhere to be found.