Getting a regular dose of exercise can help you prevent chronic illness and heart diseases, reduce stress, improve quality sleep, uplift your mood, and many more. Even after having a hectic schedule, you can still make time to work out and take your fitness to the next level.
But when it comes to the place where you should be working out, you may have to evaluate your options depending upon the circumstances. Since exercise can be done anywhere you want, doing it in a place where you feel comfortable and secure will help you get the most out of your workout session.
So, where do you feel better working out, is it outdoor or inside your home? The answer is up to your preferences, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try other options and learn what works best for you. Not to mention, both outdoor and indoor exercise contribute their part to your fitness lifestyle.
So, we will help you decide which one works best for your fitness needs according to your circumstances. This guide will impart the knowledge to understand the importance of both workout places and what you need to do under various circumstances.
Importance Of Outdoor Workouts
Recent studies have shown that outdoor workouts have a positive effect on our body and mind, which helps in reducing anxiety, depression, and other chronic diseases. So let us know why it is important for you to work out outside.
- Help In Treating Insomnia
The cold breeze you feel in the morning while working out helps in alleviating the symptoms of insomnia. That means if you regularly exercise and breathe in the fresh air, it will help you fall asleep faster while increasing quality sleep.
- Reduces Stress And Stabilizes Blood Pressure
Researchers show that outdoor physical activity reduces the stress level and blood pressure of an individual. Hence, it makes outdoor exercises less boring and helps you reach the optimal performance level. Therefore, when training outside, push yourself to perform above your limit and feel good after breaking your best record.
- Help In Connecting With Nature
When you work out outside, you can benefit from nature as well. Apart from the fresh air, you can enjoy the low UV light emitted by the sun, which energizes your mind and body to initiate a great morning.
With the benefits of Vitamin D, you can also train to uplift your mood while being so close to nature. Not only will your muscles oxidize from the morning workout, but your body will also generate a lot of energy to carry you throughout the day.
Importance Of Home Workouts
On the other hand, home workouts come with their own set of pros and cons. Let us discuss why doing home workouts are essential.
- Reliability
When nature doesn’t align with workout plans for a day, you will always have a backup plan to continue your workout routine. You can always rely on the home workouts as no one will stop you from doing your daily workout.
- Assistance From Professional
When you have decided to break your fitness goal and are dedicated to doing work for it. Then you can take the assistance of professional trainers who will ensure that you are performing the exercise with the right form while avoiding any injury. The best thing is that they will personally curate a set of workout plans to help you reach your fitness goals.
- Better Momentum
Whether you are training inside the gym or outdoors, sometimes you have to wait for others to finish so that you can continue without any hassle.
This can interrupt your training momentum and reduce the effectiveness of your workout. But when you do home workouts, you don’t have to wait for anyone or bother about someone’s interference. You can do your workouts whenever you want.
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- Flexibility
For deskbound people who cannot make time for doing workouts even outdoors, you can still do it indoors. As mentioned above, you have the flexibility to work out at your home without the time bound.
- Why Do You Need To Work Out Outdoors?
We all know that working out in an open environment not only boosts your motivation to workout but also improves your mental health. So let us look at the reasons to work out outside.
- Access To Vitamin D And The Fresh, Cold Morning Air
Most jobs include countless hours of sitting, which keeps people from accessing natural sunlight and morning fresh air. They often spend their week utilizing recycled air and get away from the soothing UV rays in the morning.
So, it is better to start your day outside in the morning to energize your body instead of going to the gym or office and getting yourself exposed to germs.
- Better For Your Mental Health
Everybody knows that exercising will release endorphins inside your body, which will make you feel good after every workout. But recent studies have shown that exercising outdoors has a positive impact on your body and mind that you won’t get in-home workouts.
- Germ
Another reason to work out outside is that Gyms are the breeding ground for germs, which can be more harmful to your health. As it says, you won’t regret working out on wet grass instead of an exercise mat loaded with a lot of germs.
- Odor
You never heard someone saying they love the smell of the gym as there is a lot of sweat and people working out to get in better shape. So, most of you have to withstand the bad sweaty odor of the gym while working out. But that’s not the case with outdoor workouts because the sweat odor fades away with the cold morning breeze that even helps your body to wake up.
- Humidity And Heat
Some gyms are located underground or not equipped with a proper ventilation system, which can increase the humidity and heat inside the building. As a result, it will make you feel uncomfortable while working out indoors. However, when you work out in the daylight, it naturally boosts the ability of your body to regulate heat while pumping more blood to your muscles.
Why Do You Need To Do Home Workouts?
- Versatile And Flexible
When you are committed to working out, then nothing can keep you from taking a dose of daily physical exercise. Whether the temperature is too hot or it’s snowy outside, you can still get your workout done indoors.
Plus, you can exercise whenever you want without any bound of specified working hours. You can even break up your workouts into small sessions and see what suits you best.
- Convenient
Everybody has a hectic schedule, which makes it hard for you to squeeze out time for your daily workouts. Even though you cannot move outside for a healthy and energizing workout, you can still burn those calories at your home.
Home workouts are convenient as you don’t have to gather the stuff before starting your work. All you have to do is warm up your body a little and begin your cardio or strength training session. The best thing about a home workout is that it can be done in a limited space.
- Privacy
If you want some privacy while working out, you can do it at your home because even outdoor workouts may distract you from continuing your workouts and reduce the effectiveness of exercise.
There will always be some people who will distract and keep you from executing your entire workout session. So, if you are not feeling comfortable working out outside, you should consider doing it at your home to reach your fitness goal.
- Unlimited Availability
Most fitness enthusiasts have experienced that sometimes they have to wait for equipment to be vacant before use; otherwise, they have to settle for another exercise session.
But when you work out at home, you have the flexibility to workout anywhere with all the necessary equipment or space. Not to mention, you won’t have to lose your workout momentum anymore.
How To Execute Outdoor Workouts?
If you have decided to workout outside in the cool, warm nature, you do a wide range of activities to complete your daily workout. However, outdoor workouts will help you to take your fitness to the next level. We have curated a list of activities that you can do outdoors.
- Hiking
Want to add some resistance to your walking? You should consider hiking as you are going to explore new heights of unknown places. Hence, it will be a challenge for both your physical and mental health.
- Walking
Are you feeling dizzy or moody to start an intense workout? If so, you should consider doing walking as it is one of the most basic outdoor exercises you can do, which comes with unparalleled benefits. You can change your walking pace to ease the pressure on the joints to reduce the risk of heart disease.
- HIIT
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is one of the most popular workout methods, specially designed to burn many calories and warm up your body effectively. It includes a combination of both intense movement and a short recovery period.
How To Execute Home Workouts?
There are a lot of exercises that you can do at home using your body weight as resistance to target different muscles and areas. We have curated a list of the top best home bodyweight exercises that you can do at your home and outdoors.
- Squats
Doing squats help in strengthening your core and legs, which can relieve pain in joints and muscles. All you have to do is stand with feet shoulder-width apart and lower your back while keeping the head straight until your bottom reaches below the level of your knees. Now push through the heel and come back to the initial position.
- Push-Ups
This exercise will help strengthen your front deltoids and chest. For example, to do a pushup, get into a high plank position and bend your elbow inside until you reach the ground. Then push back to complete the movement.
- Crunches
Crunches will work on your core, especially the upper abs. This is a strength training exercise designed to target the abs. First, you have to lie on your back and make an archer with your heel. Now lift up your upper body to reach your knees as near as you can and slowly come down to complete the exercise.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Which One Is Better For Working Out: Gym Or Home?
The gym offers a dedicated environment that boosts up your motivation to do work while home workouts are more efficient and flexible. However, everything depends upon how you utilize your equipment and time to make the most out of your workouts.
When working out inside your home, you won’t have to worry about stuck in traffic to leave your house at a particular time. Both gym and home workouts are packed with their own pros and cons. It depends upon you what kind of environment you want to do your workout in.
- Why Is It Recommended To Workout Outdoors?
Outdoor workouts can reduce the chances of anxiety, depression, and seasonal affective disorder because the morning sun rays naturally boost serotonin, a hormone that changes your mood. And if you exercise, your body will produce endorphins, which is another hormone for making you feel good about yourself and assist in reducing pain.
- Why Is It Often Recommended To Workout In An Outdoor Gym Instead Of Indoor Ones?
Even though exercising produces endorphins inside your body, which makes you feel good after every workout. But recent studies have shown that working out in outdoor gyms positively affects your mental health. So not only will exercising in outdoor gyms help you feel good, but it also provides your mind with a sense of peace.
- Is It Good To Workout With Weights Outdoors?
Yes, it will make you feel good and help you regain interest in working out when you bring your workout session outdoors. Not only will this open up a lot of opportunities to workout with great motivation, but it will also bring some variety to your workout to make it more interesting.
Final Thoughts:
So, which one is better: outdoor exercise Vs home workout ? The answer depends upon your requirements. If climate affects the routine of your workout, then you should consider working out at home. On the other hand, if you want to exercise and improve your mental health, then you should consider working out outdoors. Either way, you have to keep working out without making any excuses.