Outdoor Fitness Research
Benefits of Exercising Outdoors
Key Benefits of Using an Outdoor Gym
As the popularity of fitness continues to rise here in the UK, helping to tackle obesity rates, outdoor gyms have surged in popularity as a versatile and accessible option for many compared to indoor gyms. These fitness facilities provide fresh air and effective workouts, delivering all the advantages of exercising outdoors while incorporating indoor gym equipment and structures in an outdoor environment. Working out in open spaces offers many benefits, such as optimising your physical health, boosting your cognitive well-being, facilitating unique social opportunities to unite communities and often being available free of charge.
Top 4 Main Benefits of Outdoor Exercise
Physical Health
Outdoor gyms feature a variety of exercise machines and equipment that allow for a comprehensive full-body workout. Whether you're training for strength, cardio, or flexibility, an outdoor gym provides you with all the equipment required to optimise your training.
Psychological Benefits
One of the key advantages of using an outdoor gym as opposed to an indoor gym is the exposure to the natural environment, fresh air and sunlight, which has been proven to significantly decrease stress levels. This makes the combination of exercise and being outdoors a powerful catalyst for stress relief.
Social Integration
Outdoor gyms often serve as social hubs within the local community, where people with a shared interest in fitness come together. Outdoor fitness sites unite individuals from all areas of the community to participate in a fitness journey together.
FREE to Use
One of the biggest benefits of outdoor gyms is that they are free for the public to use, making fitness accessible to everyone. This is especially beneficial for those who may not have the financial resources for a traditional gym membership, which averages around £47.24 per month in the UK.
Indoor vs Outdoor Exercise
Exercising outdoors offers numerous advantages over indoor workouts, including indirect benefits like increased motivation and enjoyment. Additionally, specific physical and cognitive health benefits derive from exercising in natural daylight and fresh air. Recent research suggests that the health benefits of natural daylight extend far beyond vitamin D, prompting the need for new guidelines on prioritising outdoor exposure for health (Holick, 2016).
Outdoor fitness equipment can be installed in public spaces that offer free access and are in proximity to residential areas. This makes it a popular approach to combining the health benefits of exercise with exposure to fresh air.
With an extensive range of outdoor fitness equipment, you can choose cardio equipment and adjustable strength training equipment just as you would find indoors, but designed to be weather-resistant and durable for outdoor settings. Alternatively, you can opt for calisthenics and outdoor fitness stations, which are widely recognised as street workout equipment.
KOMPAN Fitness App
Helping You Get Started
To help you and your community get started with your outdoor workout routine, the KOMPAN Fit app suggests personalised workouts based on the equipment available at your local outdoor gym, ensuring you maximise your exercise routine.
Select the equipment and machines available at your location and the app will suggest different workout plans that align with your fitness goals, whether it’s strength training, cardio, or flexibility.
The app also provides step-by-step guidance, making it easy to use the outdoor gym equipment safely and efficiently.
Download white paper
Interested in the Science behind the Benefits of Outdoor Gyms?
This article summarises the white paper and "The benefits of exercising outdoors versus indoors”.
You can download the white paper below to learn more about the subject.
References
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