Read 42 times since Thursday, July 29, 2010
If you're into keeping yourself fit and healthy and have a membership with a local health club, you'll probably find that with the exception of holidays and sickness, you generally attend the same amount of times each week, irrelevant of the time of year.
In the winter, however, it can be a little more of a laborious task, attending three or four times a week, as it's cold outside, likely to be raining, windy or snowing and the nights get dark well before the end of work comes.
And to contemplate doing any form of exercise outside of the health club is even more of a struggle - often to such an extent that no one carries any out, with the exception of perhaps quick exercises that you can do in your home, such as sit ups or press ups.
Get round to the summer, however and the whole scenario is a lot different.
Or at least it should be.
In the weeks leading up to the summer and right through until early September, the weather in the UK is generally pretty good. It's rare to get a cloudy or rainy early morning; when rain does come it's more often than not just showers and the sun is up in the sky to go at 9.00pm throughout June and July and into the beginning of August.
So although you should continue your time at the health club - continuity and regularity is a major component of achieving and maintaining the level of fitness that you desire - it's strongly recommended that you take advantage of the beautiful conditions of the summer and enhance your fitness further.
For example, chances are when you're working out, you spend a lot of time on the treadmill. Whether it's walking, jogging, running or sprinting, the treadmills provide a great way to both warm up and warm down, as well as being a fantastic piece of cardiovascular equipment, raising your heart's beat per minute and increasing the blood flow around your body.
If you enjoy using a treadmill, why not consider jogging or running outside? It can be done anywhere, no matter if you live in the middle of a council housing estate or in the open countryside - running is an activity that doesn't require any particular equipment (although a good pair of running shoes is highly recommended).
And if you feel slightly self-conscious about running outdoors, get up early and go for a run before work. Some even say this is the best time to run as it's quiet, peaceful and most importantly, cool.
Whilst running is the primary - and easiest - outdoor exercise to do, most of what you do in the health club can be done outside with a little bit of thought.
Sit ups on grass in park and angled push ups on a bench are both great examples, whilst simply doing standard gardening work uses muscles in all parts of your body, especially if you're carrying out some landscaping.
The simple message for summer exercising is don't restrict yourself to a health club. Yes, you should continue attending as you normally would, but enjoy the great outdoors whilst you can - come mid September, you'll be regretting it if you don't. For more information about joining a health club, visit the Fitness First website at http://www.fitnessfirst.co.uk.
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