How Can You Stay Active Outside This Summer?

With summer quickly approaching, the urge to spend more time outside increases. With the allure of warmer weather, it’s difficult to justify spending time inside working out. Fortunately, there are ways that you can still push your body to the limits, without being confined inside four walls. My personal favorite outdoor activity is tennis. It’s time to grab a friend and hit the court. With the ability to burn between 500-800 calories, and tone up your entire body, it’s a no-brainer. Throw a little friendly competition in, and you can be out on the court for a couple of hours without noticing the clock slowly ticking. Another way to enjoy the sun is to be out at the lake.  With a plethora of options to choose from, swimming can be a very beneficial form of exercise. Swimming engages the entire body to propel yourself in the water. This increased muscle usage can lead to large caloric expenditures that will have you lean and fit in no time. Just be sure to minimize the beer while out at the lake, and definitely not before swimming! Biking has become increasingly popular over the years due to the expansion of biking trails to be explored. Whether it’s first thing in the morning when it’s still quiet or after work to release some stress, biking is a great way to get those legs burning and your heart rate soaring. For an added challenge, try to minimize the amount of time you are on the seat. Try standing and pedaling for an increased burn. Another spring and summertime favorite is golf. Golf is mainly an upper body workout, engaging your core, shoulders, and back, but can be a full body workout with proper planning. For starters, skip the golf cart. This can add a considerable amount of walking to your golf game, which in turn burns more calories. Another thing to be wary of while golfing is beverage consumption. With warmer days, hydration is always a necessity. Make sure you are turning to water or unsweetened iced tea to quench your thirst and avoid the calorie-laden and metabolism-slowing effects of alcoholic drinks. Even with the warmer weather, there is no reason we can’t enjoy the weather and still make progress with our fitness goals. Above are just a few options, but the main goal is to keep moving. Conversely, it’s easy to sit inside a comfortable, air-conditioned house. Regardless of your preference of exercise, just keep moving!