How to Get the Most of Your Outdoor Workout
Anyone who enjoys the outdoors knows that you can get a high-quality workout while you take in the scenery. But making the most of your workout isn’t always an easy task. Luckily, there are a variety of fitness products that can help you make sure every moment counts for more. To help you on your journey to a better work, consider investing in these key pieces of equipment.
Fitness Trackers
If you want to see how challenging your workout actually is then, you may want to invest in a fitness tracker. Quality options, like the Garmin Vivofit, can help you monitor your performance as you move through your workout. You can find out when you hit your optimum heart rate as well as track interesting metrics like time spent exercising and the distance you have covered.
Once you understand your baselines, you can create a plan to improve your performance. You can also monitor your progress to see the results when your health improves.
Weighted Vests
A weighted vest is an easy way to make any outdoor workout more challenging. These work by securing a specific amount of extra pounds to your frame, making your muscles work harder to keep you moving forward. The benefits can include improved strength and cardio, and you don’t necessarily have to do anything different but put on the vest.
Weighted vests are often available with either a fixed or adjustable amount of weight. Fixed weight versions hold a set number of pounds to create a consistent experience. Adjustable versions have removable weights that can be added and subtracted based on your personal fitness level.
Hand and Ankle Weights
You can purchase hand and ankles weights that strap onto your body. This provides similar benefits to a weighted vest, but are connected at either the ankles or wrists. For those that find the vests too hot to wear, these weights may be a more comfortable option. They can also be acquired fairly inexpensively.
Adding weights to a normal activity can make it more challenging automatically. It also provides the opportunity to do specific exercises that use the weights as resistance, which may allow you to add a strength training component to a cardio-based workout regime.
When using hand and ankle weights, just like any other fitness equipment, it is important to keep safety in mind. Some people change their unknowingly once the weights are attached, and that can increase the risk of injury.
GPS
While a GPS may not inherently improve your workout, it does give you the option to participate in a fun outdoor activity called geocaching. Geocaching works by providing participants with a set of GPS coordinates that denote a specific cache. You simply use your GPS to locate the cache and see what is inside.
Participants regularly leave small items in the caches to act as prizes for others who find the location. A general rule of thumb is not to remove an item unless you have an item to leave in its place. In some cases, log books are also available. This allows you to leave a small message to show that you arrived, and can provide a fun way to connect with others who have made the same journey.