After years of training in gyms even when I was not a personal trainer, I branch out of the stifled environments of gym and took my training and my business outdoors.
I found the benefits to be hugely rewarding and even noticed that I lost more weight, felt and looked healthier and even went on to achieve a dream of a lifetime and become an ironman.
Now I am not suggesting that you need to spend numerous hours pounding the pavement, riding a bike or swimming to become and ironman but I will give you 10 great reasons to rip up your gym or indoor PT membership and step outdoors and reap the rewards.
Long term contracts
An indoor studio or gym will lock you into a membership for 6 months or more (usually 12 months) they do this to have a positive cash flow. It is detrimental to you because most people stop going to the gym after only a few weeks and most after a few months yet the monthly debit from your account still comes out whether you like it or not. Save yourself hundreds of dollars and the joining fee and head outside.
Additional money savings
So you happen to be one of the rare people that continue to use the gym, you get into it and find yourself spending more money. You pay $6 for a protein shake, enjoy a protein bar for $4.50, sign up for additional classes that conveniently are not covered in your membership and much more.
Need protein then look no further than your local fish monger or meat supplier. Plenty of protein to be had in these healthy choices and your body is not consuming processed crap that you cannot pronounce.
Repetitive music
I worked in a local PT studio for a while and the thing that annoyed me and many of the clients was the repetitive music. Over and over again the same CD would be played. We thought things would improve with the installation of Foxtel but alas our worst fears came true. It to had 15 channels of the same music on an infinite loop. By training outdoors you can mix your own music to fire you up and get you moving.
Sunshine
Much of our populate are reportedly vitamin D deficient. If you are deficient you need to do something about it because being deficient means unhealthy bones and muscles.
Don’t be supplement and feed a pharmacy industry that is worth billions, get outside in the sun and get your vitamin D for free. It should not be forgotten that if you are training outdoors it is very important to wear a hat, apply sunscreen and wear a shirt.
Television, iPhones and other electrical devices.
Walk into any gym today and you will find several people sitting on bikes tecting, updating their Facebook status or the person on the treadmill who is alerting everyone via twitter what they are doing, to the person comatose by the TV and is barely moving on the equipment and lets not forget the gym junking who takes a selfie photo after a set alerting the world to how huge they look. Get outdoors and run, take up a boxing or bootcamp class or engage an outdoor personal trainer. You will be moving in no time, feel healthier and your friends will notice.
Gyms can be scary
Are you afraid to enter the Zumba or BodyPump class because you afraid you cannot keep up, or worse yet the class is so full that you attempt the exercises at the back of the room and get frustrated because the instructor is too busy talking to their favourites at the front to teach you properly. Are you sick of seeing the tanned posers who spend more time look in the mirror than actually train and look you up and down because you are not like them.
Then get outdoors, you will always be greeted by a friendly smile or wave of another person who is working out and acknowledges your efforts to do the same on a cold wintery morning. Outdoor training is invigorating and welcoming and poor attitudes are left at home for we all have a common goal to be healthy. I would even bet that you are more likely to achieve your goal by surrounding yourself with fun welcoming people at a local park doing a bootcamp than you would at a local gym.
The first step is always the hardest but it could be as simple as a morning fat burner walk or a 45 minute boxing session with a skilled instructor who ensures you are looked after and the program is tailored to you. Get out on your bike, go for a jog, head down to the beach and run on the sand even find some stairs and run up and down them several times and perform some body weight exercises.
You do not need fancy equipment or the latest gadgets, you can do a workout with a skipping rope, a kettlebell, sandbag, medball and much more. At most local parks now they have equipment so you can do chin ups, pull ups and work your abs till your heart is content.
Becoming a outdoor personal trainer was the best decision I ever made, sure I have clients I train indoors in my garage or at the local gym but the majority of my clients train outdoors with me and on their own. I say give it a try because I am betting once you have you wont go back to paying huge fees, being stifled in a room with others all fighting for the machine or weights and you will probably meet some quality people with similar goals to yourself.
Don’t be the one to let your goals slip by, get involved and get active and see your life change for the better.