Remember when I wrote in previous posts about how Covid and work-from-home-office stimulated me to introduce a daily walk? Besides that, also gyms and fitness centers got closed for several months. Basketball was gone for many months, whereas training with T., my trainer, got moved outdoors. We sometimes went to a sports field, and most of the time to nature, to the woods.
The video story (if you prefer to read the story, please continue below the video):
This photo was taken in my favorite fitness center – my open-air gym, right after I finished the initial ascent, about 140 meters (450 feet). I was breathless, in heart rate zone 4 out of 5 (per my Garmin watch). That initial ascent is a perfect warm-up.
At first, I had doubts about doing exercises in nature and finding an alternative to all fitness devices. But T. has proven resourceful – we carried out a comprehensive workout program with a little help from trees, branches, sticks, stumps, stones, and even uneven ground. A rubber band was the only artificial accessory that we had been using. I enjoyed those pieces of training in nature. Frankly, as gyms re-opened, it took me quite a while to adapt to the indoor gym.
Why? Look at these scenes; some of my exercise locations. You can’t beat it. Fresh air, silence, birds singing, no crowd. How could any gym center compete with that?
So while moving my weekly training with T. back to the gym, I stepwise upgraded my daily walks by adding several exercises. Nowadays, my daily walk consists of the following:
- 4–7 km (2,5-4,5 miles) walk,
- 200m (660 feet) ascent,
- Three minutes of stretch exercises and,
- various combinations of strength exercises.
Do you want to learn more about how I exercise in nature? I’ll share more in the upcoming posts.