Cardio - Indoors or Outdoors?

   You see it at every fitness club. Men and women churning out miles and miles on the treadmills. Others use steppers or cross trainers. Not as many use the stationary bikes. Fewer still use the rowing machines. They walk, they run, they step - usually very slow in what they have been told is the
fat burning zone. 
   Others go hard or do anaerobic interval sessions that leave them drenched with effort. Group exercise classes are most often (but not always) held in an indoor environment. I have heard of marathon racers doing all of their training on a treadmill because they can more accurately gauge their effort and pace.
   My preference leans towards doing my endurance work outdoors. I have a mental tolerance on indoor cardiovascular apparatus such as treadmills, exercise bikes, step machines and cross trainers of about 5 minutes maximum. After that my brain gives up the ghost. I can't continue the task without
feeling the boredom set in.
    I am an outdoor cardio animal. I can't run anymore because of a hip injury but outdoors my capacity for bicycling , skating or cross country skiing is dependent on my pace and my fitness levels.
I prefer fresh air and green forest trails. I can escape when I am outside. I think back to my high school days. I would come off of wrestling season and start running track and field outside in the spring. As soon as I started running outside I felt refreshed and free!

   So is it better to do your cardiovascular workouts inside or outside? It is mostly a matter of preference or comfort. Many people do both and make their choices according to weather conditions and convenience.
     There are positives to indoor cardio most of them related to safety:

• No traffic to worry about
• No exhaust fumes
• Rain, snow, sleet, ice or sunburn are taken out of the equation except for the commute to the fitness center. Since Canada has just gone through 2 consecutive brutal winters, weather is a MAJOR factor!
• No thugs lurking in back alleys as you run, bike or roller blade
• Less likelihood of turning an ankle or blowing out a knee by tripping or hitting uneven terrain
• Stable environment for monitoring physiological improvements with built in monitoring devices on cardio machines
• No worry about nasty dogs, coyotes, or skunks

    For the outdoor cardio argument we have:

• Fresh air - maybe.  (Pollution can be an issue in many urban centers.)
• The sense of freedom of being outside.
• Sunlight. (Unless you lived in Canada the last 2 winters.)  
• Scenery. Trees, parks, rivers, lakes and green spaces.
• Supposedly trees can give off natural chemicals that are healthy to breathe in while exercising. 

    There is no right or wrong answer in this case. Every person has their own comfort zone.
Any exercise is usually better than being inactive.

This athletic couple prefers to do their cardiovascular training in the great outdoors.
The  setting is the Rideau Canal in Ottawa Canada -
The world's longest skating rink!

Until Next Time

Keep Fit!


Little Bobby Strong











Links
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com
www.rabbitview/rabbitview-crossfit