Green Exercise: The Advantages of Working Out in the Fresh Air and How to Get Started
Studies have found that green exercise—or exercise performed in natural environments—can yield benefits beyond those seen with performing the same exercise indoors. You probably already know that engaging in regular physical activity has numerous positive effects on one’s health, such as lowering levels of stress and improving mental well-being, as well as preventing and controlling conditions like hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. However, did you know that simply moving outside can increase these benefits?
The following are the main findings from five studies on the advantages of exercising outside:
Green exercise was found to have a greater impact on improving mental and cardiovascular health than exercise alone. Green exercise led to a greater drop in blood pressure after exercise in primary school-aged children than exercise alone. In a study of people who had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, those who did green exercise, such as walking in a park, saw greater improvements in their cardiac function (such as their blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output), compared to those who walked on busy city streets. Green exercise was found to be an effective method for reducing stress levels among company employees by researchers examining its effects on the workplace.
Researchers came to a number of interesting conclusions in a multi-study analysis: green exercise performed in a variety of settings improved self-esteem and mood, and the presence of water elicited even greater benefits; men and women saw similar improvements in self-esteem following green exercise; substantial benefits were seen with even short, light-intensity bouts of green exercise; and the positive improvements continued, despite the fact that the benefits diminished with longer and more intense exercise. Four Ways to Include Green Exercise in Your Schedule The next step is to figure out how to incorporate green exercise into your routine now that you know why getting outside is so important.
Take into account the following strategies:
Take a walk outside: Every day, walk on grass or dirt instead of the treadmill. Our bodies were made to walk a lot and at a low-to-moderate level of intensity on natural surfaces. Walking anywhere from 1 to 5 miles outside each day is recommended.
Connect movement with the acquisition of food: For thousands of years, humans performed outdoor physical activity to secure food and water. Gardening, fishing, and hunting are excellent ways to rekindle that connection. If none of those activities are your thing, consider walking to a grocery store or convenience store each day to pick up a few ingredients for that evening’s dinner.
Move outdoors with friends: Plan a weekly hike, golf outing or pickleball match, or sign up for outdoor group exercise classes. Making physical activity more social or recreational can make it feel less like a grueling workout that you have to fit into your schedule and more like fun with friends. Keep it short: If you don’t have time for any of the aforementioned activities, take a brief break outside. Green exercise doesn’t have to be long or exhausting to be beneficial, as was mentioned earlier. During your lunch break or after dinner, a quick walk around the block can help you feel better and provide some of the other benefits listed above. The key is consistency, so get out there as often as you can.
Last Thoughts
An unfortunate side effect of the forward march of technology, coupled with things like remote work and food/grocery delivery services, is the tendency for people to sit more and move less. Green exercise can help you combat the negative effects of a more sedentary lifestyle by being incorporated into your daily routine. One of the best predictors of long-term success with a lifestyle change is choosing a form of exercise that you enjoy doing. Green exercise, on the other hand, can be a lot of fun. So, whether it’s joining a basketball league, mountain biking with friends or signing up for a Saturday morning boot camp in the park, now is the time to get outside and get moving.
If you are a health coach or exercise professional looking to add outdoor fitness options to your list of services, be sure to check out Shared-Use Agreements for Outdoor Fitness (worth 0.1 ACE CECs), which will take you step by step through the process of delivering physical activity and exercise programs in parks and other public spaces.
