Last weekend, I hiked with my cousin during our Girl's Weekend Getaway in Phoenix. Despite the desert heat, it was great to move our bodies, experience the mountains up close and chat with other hikers on the trail. Exercising outdoors has been shown to be significantly different than indoor workouts.
Science suggests there
are benefits to exercising outdoors that can’t be replicated on a
treadmill or a track. You stride differently when running outdoors, for one thing. Generally,
people flex their ankles more when they run outside. They also, at
least occasionally, run downhill, a movement that isn’t easily done on a
treadmill and that stresses muscles differently than running on flat or
uphill terrain. Outdoor exercise tends, too, to be more strenuous than
the indoor version. In studies comparing the exertion of running on a
treadmill and the exertion of running outside, treadmill runners expended less energy
to cover the same distance as those striding across the ground outside,
primarily because indoor exercisers face no wind resistance or changes
in terrain, no matter how subtle.
In another study, volunteers were asked to go for two walks for the same time or
distance — one inside, usually on a treadmill or around a track, the
other outdoors. In virtually all of the studies, the volunteers reported
enjoying the outside activity more and, on subsequent psychological
tests, scored significantly higher on measures of vitality, enthusiasm,
pleasure and self-esteem and lower on tension, depression and fatigue
after they walked outside.
Another small study found that people have lower blood levels of cortisol, a hormone related to
stress, after exerting themselves outside as compared with inside.
There’s speculation, too, that exposure to direct sunlight, known to
affect mood, plays a role.
Take Your Workout Outside This Week
Stay Active and Enjoy Your Food
