Should you turn your back on the Gym?
Your Body is Too Smart
It’s a scientific fact: our bodies are smart. They look for the easy route, the path that requires the least amount of work. This means our bodies adapt quickly to exercise patterns. So in a gym workout, whether you’re using equipment, free weights, or a circuit training machine, your body will quickly learn what it has to do, and will switch on autopilot, exerting the least amount of effort possible to complete the task. This is why you reach a plateau so quickly and why the results you get in a gym setting eventually taper off. It’s nearly impossible to reach your full potential exercising this way.
For Best Results – Mix-it-up!
In the outdoors, your body is constantly adapting to new actions, as it moves up, down, diagonally, or side-to-side. You are constantly recruiting new muscle fiber, which in turn sends your neurons and muscles new information all the time. This keeps your brain active and engaged. It also keeps your body continually challenged, becoming stronger, faster, and more agile. You’ll hear me say over and again: Life is not a linear event! We as human beings are built for variety and challenges—both mental and physical—that the gym simply can’t accommodate.
Skip Boredom – Take it Outside!
Then there’s the boredom factor. Admit it: no matter how much you care about your health and fitness, you get tired of the same old routine at the gym. It’s no surprise, since you’re not getting much mental stimulation from pumping muscles and heart rates on indoor weight machines, treadmills and stationary bikes. Most gyms across the country have a staggering 90 percent drop-out rate. In contrast, over its history the Outdoor Fitness program has had a 20 percent drop out rate. Get to know Outdoor Fitness workouts because you’ll want to stick with them—for the results, and for the great variety that keeps you from ever feeling stifled or bored.
