Fitness

11 Ways to Lose Weight Outside the Gym

Tired of the inconvenience, the impersonal public nature and the expense of your local gym? Check out 11 premium fat burners that will totally crush your old, boring gym sessions. Here are the best ways to lose weight outside the gym.

What’s the biggest hurdle for you getting in shape? Could it be the gym you work out in, that sweat infused supermarket that promises you so many spectacular benefits – for a price? The truth is that you don’t have to fork over your hard earned cash every week and spend your valuable time commuting just to wait in line to stare aimlessly at a TV screen while huffing and puffing on a treadmill.

If your goal is to lose weight there are better ways. Here are 10 of them:

#1 HIIT The Field

11 Ways to Lose Weight Outside the Gym

High Intensity Interval Training not only burns a ton of calories, it revs up your metabolism and triggers the release of anabolic hormones. Get out onto a level field with a stopwatch. Do a 2 minute slow jog, then sprint like your life depends on it for 20 seconds (imagine that you’re being chased by a Rottweiler). Now walk for 10 seconds. Repeat 7 more times.

#2 Take An Evening Stroll

30 minutes after dinner, take a 30 minute stroll around the block. Try it once and you’ll find out just how much more alive you’ll feel than if you’d blobbed in front of the TV. Over the week you’ll burn about 2,000 calories as well.

#3 Turn On The TV

Just slip in a premium workout DVD first. You can either do an entire 6-week routine with a top rated program like P90X or Insanity or simply throw in a workout or two each week as part of a holistic program.

#4 Take a Hike

How to Lose Weight Outside the Gym

The very fact that you’re outdoors, soaking up the sun’s rays and enjoying the cooling effects of a slight breeze rather than sweating it out under artificial light and an electric fan, has a feel good factor that is impossible to quantify. What scientists do know is that exercising outdoors lessens the incidence of post-workout headaches, enhances endorphin release and improves cardiovascular fitness. Going up and down all those hills is also an effective calorie burner.

Hiking is a wonderful activity for your mind, body and soul. It takes you to places that you’ve never seen before, and shows you some of the most beautiful views that nature has to offer.  So, here are 5 reasons to hit the hills.

#5 Boot Camp It

Outdoor group fitness classes tick all of the boxes – you’re exercising in the great outdoors, you’re challenged at your level, you’ve got your peers and a qualified trainer to motivate and push you and you’ll even get nutritional guidance.

#6 Go Aqua

Lose Weight Outside the Gym

Everything you do in the water takes six times as much effort as on land. The great thing, though, is that doing it in the water takes all the pressure off your joints. Swimming is also a fantastic calorie churner. Aqua aerobics is an awesome way to get a non-impact resistance work-out.

#7 Gamefy your Workout

There’s an app for everything, including turning your workout into an exciting, challenging game. One of the best apps out there for turning your workout into a game is Fitocracy, which allows you to progress through levels as you negotiate your way through a physical challenge adventure that is tailored toward your specific exercise type. It will provide incentives to complete your workout then present you with quests that allow you to conquer your opponents as well as your fears.

#8 Join a Sports Team

Just because you’re no longer at school doesn’t mean you’re too old to savour the joy of sport. Not only will joining a sports team revamp your social life, it will reignite your competitive juices while burning fat like crazy.

#9 Kayak Your Fat Away

Kayak Your Fat Away

Kayaking provides an awesome workout for your shoulders, back, arm and core muscles. It’ll ramp up your metabolism, while burning about 500 calories an hour. And once you try it, you’ll discover that there is nothing quite as serenely calming as an early morning kayak on a scenic lake.

#10 Distance Running

Lose Weight Outside the Gym running. Distance running is great for your body and your mind. Whether  you want to lose weight, or you’re training for a long distance race, or running to improve your fitness, increasing your running endurance is key to continued success as a runner. This tips will have you building running endurance quickly and easily! Improving your running stamina is easier than you think

#11 Train For an Event

Break out of your comfort zone and commit to a 10-mile run in 3 months’ time, or a 40-mile bike challenge. Heck, go all out and sign up for a marathon. It may scare you, but it will also motivate you to start training to accomplish the task. The more people you tell about it, the more obligated you’ll be to follow through.

Moving out of the sterile, crowded, artificial environment of the gym into the great outdoors will allow you to give both your body and your mind a wellness makeover. The ideas presented where, when applied in combination, will totally crush your old, boring gym routine. So, don’t you think it’s about time you took advantage of the no gym fitness solution?

Share with us more ideas hose to lose weight outside the gym.

Cover photo: www.weheartit.com

About the author

Steve Theunissen

Steve Theunissen is a former gym owner and personal trainer who lives in New Zealand with his wife, Shelley, and two daughters. For the last decade, Steve has taught literacy to Middle School students. He also runs a fitness boot camp for pre-teens.

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