These days, going to a gym can be scary or even risky. Some people decide to train at home, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in the house the entire time.
There are plenty of great ideas you can do for outdoor training.
Training outside has plenty of advantages. It’s nice to be able to feel the sunshine on your skin in a world where staying inside has become the norm.
Plus, it’s easy to find your very own section of a park where you can social distance during the pandemic and remain safe while you exercise.
You may not want to go to a gym right now, but you don’t have to isolate yourself to the four walls of your house.
In this article, I’ll go over how the pandemic has impacted training and give you ten great ideas for outdoor training during the pandemic.
How the Pandemic Affected Training
The world came to a halt at the beginning of the year. That included going to gyms, exercising, training, and even sports that kept people in shape.
People could barely even go outside. Even if they did, there was nowhere to go because everything, including public parks, was shut down.
It was a shocking and unexpected event that changed life as we knew it. Here are some of the ways that the pandemic affected people’s training regimens.
Gyms Closed, And Gym Equipment Suddenly Disappeared.
The global shut down forced all gyms to close. When people realized they’d be stuck inside, they bought almost all the gym equipment.
Even the ridiculously expensive exercise machines sold out.
Manufacturers sold out at lightning speeds and even sold equipment that had probably been in their warehouses collecting dust for years.
This caused quite a few problems.
The first one is that after everything sold out, there were still tons of people who needed to buy machines and equipment.
However, there was nothing to buy so they couldn’t get what they needed.
People resorted to sites like eBay to buy used equipment, but sellers raised the prices so much due to the high demand that many things became unaffordable to the average buyer.
The next problem is that manufacturers couldn’t make more products due to the shutdown.
The entire world shut down. That means there were no factory workers to make products, no shipping workers to ship products, and no retail workers to sell products.
There Was No In-Person Training Available
Another problem that the pandemic caused is the lack of available trainers.
For one, everyone was terrified of the virus that was ravaging the globe, so many trainers wouldn’t work with clients.
On top of that, social distancing was required so they couldn’t work with clients even if they wanted to.
As bad as this was, the bigger issue came from government-ordered lock downs. Some places were lucky enough to only have curfews, but many places were ordered to stay home altogether.
People weren’t allowed to visit other homes and as mentioned before, there were no public areas to meet people in.
Food Became Scarce.
This may seem like a whole separate issue, but it’s not.
Food has a big impact on weight management, muscle building, and overall fitness. However, food suddenly became as scarce as the gym equipment.
Farms had to shut down because they didn’t have enough labor to run them.
On top of that, there was no way to ship food and farmers couldn’t sell in person due to social distancing and the shutdown.
That means that stores weren’t getting the fresh meats and produce they needed to keep up with demand.
Things got so bad to where crops started dying and animals had to be slaughtered simply because there was no one to harvest the crops or maintain the animals.
Even processed foods became scarce because there were no factories open to manufacture them.
Eight Months Later, Things Are a Little Better
The world couldn’t stay shut down forever. Eventually gyms started opening back up.
Governments eased up on the stay at home order and people were able to go back to work. Trainers could see clients again.
However, the virus is still out there. People are continuing to wear masks and social distance from others.
A lot of people are still not comfortable being around others, so they’re still not going to the gym.
Even worse, the months of unemployment have left many people unable to fit a gym membership in their current budgets.
That’s where outdoor training ideas come in. Training outside in your yard or at the park can allow you to have your own personal space in a well ventilated area.
You can social distance and still get a great workout. You’ll also remedy that stir-crazy feeling from being indoors for the last few months.
If you don’t have any ideas of how to train outdoors, the next section is important for you. The next section will have the ten outdoor training ideas that you’ve been waiting for.
10 Outdoor Training Ideas for a Pandemic
1. Hiking
Hiking is a perfect outdoor exercise activity for a pandemic. It’s something you can do alone, and you’ll likely be hiking in an area with little to no people.
Plus, hiking is a total body workout.
You’ll get in an insane amount of cardio but climbing rocks and hills can also help you strengthen certain muscles. You’ll burn a ton of calories as well.
The average 160-pound person can burn around 440 calories per hour. Grab some bug spray, sunscreen, and a light lunch and head on out to become one with nature.
If you venture off the beaten path and decide to go rock climbing, be sure to have some liquid chalk handy. It will increase your grip and help you excel!
2. Plan outdoor activities with your kids or pets.
Here is an option that may be the most fun option on the list. If you don’t want to be around other people, just be around the people you live with.
Plan an active day with your kids and pets. Do activities like frisbee, races, fetch, sports, and more.
You can do this at home, in the park, or anywhere that you have wide, open space. Best of all, it’s a way for the whole family to get some exercise outdoors.
2. Running
Running is like hiking, but you’ll be working a lot harder. However, this means you’ll burn more calories while you’re at it.
You may want to avoid tracks as that could have a good deal of people on them.
Trails would be better because they’re more secluded, more spacious, and more interesting.
They’ll also provide more of a challenge due to the terrain changes. Trails with inclines will help
you tone your muscles.
4. Use a Farm.
This may sound bizarre but hear me out. If you live in an area near local farms, the farm owners can benefit from your training on their farm as much as you can benefit from it.
Farm work is hard.
In fact, farm workers are some of the most fit people in the country.
It takes some serious muscle to do all the raking, hoeing, planting, harvesting, and whatever farmers do with the animals.
If you’ve ever wanted to challenge yourself, work on a farm. You willpush your body to the limit.
Volunteering to work on a farm will not only improve your training, but it will help save local farms.
Farmers have been hit hard during this pandemic with many of them shuttering their doors for good. They’d be glad for the free labor to help them get back on their feet.
5. Jogging on the Beach
Jogging on the beach is a great idea for an outdoor exercise during a pandemic.
Who doesn’t like being on a beautiful beach, listening to the gentle crash of the waves? It’s very relaxing and a great stress reliever.
More importantly, jogging in sand is a great way to add some resistance to your workout.
If you go to a public beach, you may want to jog on the beach during early morning hours to avoid being around too many people.
6. Use Playground Equipment
If you were one of those people who couldn’t find any exercise equipment when the pandemic hit, you probably miss using machines.
A good substitute for that is playground equipment. It will require some creativity, but you can use this equipment to tailor a unique outdoor training regimen.
You’ll need to find a time when there are little to no children on the playground.
A little creativity and some possible help from a personal trainer can have you training on playground equipment like it was made for exercise.
7. Biking
Here is another solitary activity that can be done while social distancing.
Biking provides you with a great cardio workout and you’ll enjoy the fresh outdoors while you’re at it. You can also tone your muscles when going up an incline.
You can go a lot further on a bike than you can on foot, so you may be able to sight see while you’re at it.
After being stuck indoors for so long, you’ll probably be glad to see something other than your wallpaper.
8. HIIT Workout
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great idea for outdoor training during a pandemic.
You probably already know how intense a HITT workout is, so I don’t need to go into detail about that.
What makes it great for these times is the short length of time it takes to complete a session.
Since it’s so intense, a thorough workout would only take around 20 minutes to complete.
That’s less time you’ll be exposed to people. It’s also ideal for people who are in climates that may be extremely hot or cold, so you won’t spend so much time in extreme weather.
9. Military Boot Camp
I’m not saying you should go join the military. However, if you create your own boot camp based on military physical training (PT) standards, you’d be setting up an intense outdoor training program that will kick you into shape fast.
It makes sense to do this because military PT is done outdoors anyway.
Also, you can do most of it individually, so you won’t have to be around a lot of people. Social distancing during a custom military boot camp is a piece of cake.
10. Yoga
Imagine doing relaxing yoga poses in the serene outdoors. Going outside when the weather is nice and letting all that cooped-up stress melt away while strengthening your muscles and working on your flexibility is very attractive.
Plus, you won’t be breathing hard while doing yoga, so you could even keep your mask on.
Another reason yoga is great at this time is that it’s a great way to ease back into a workout routine if you’ve been out of practice during the pandemic.
Final Thoughts About Outdoor Training Ideas
When thinking about training outdoors during the pandemic, the most important thing to keep in mind is social distancing.
Most of the ideas provided allow you to keep your distance from people while still enjoying the outdoors.
The pandemic may have changed the way you train, but it doesn’t have to be the end of training or the end of being outside.
Be smart about it, keep your goals in mind, and let your imagination run wild.
Before you know it, you’ll have created an amazing outdoor training program that you may want to continue even when the pandemic is over.
