Why Not Take Your Training Outdoors?

It’s summer time and the weather is (sometimes) fine! We asked London based personal trainer Rachel Thompson for her take on training outdoors:

"Now summer is here so why not take your training outdoors. I love nothing more than a sunny Saturday afternoon training in one of London's green spaces. But why would I want to train outside when I have access to train in various indoor gyms with awesome pieces of kit and up to date equipment?

"Well there are so many benefits to outdoor training I would be silly not to get my butt outside.

"Training outdoors is a great way to expose your body and muscles to a new stimulus. If you are always training inside a gym with free weights or fixed equipment, trying an outdoor body weight session will challenge your body in a whole new way. I really like to use the Animal Flow training system when I go outside. Animal Flow is a ground based body weight training system that requires just me and some floor space. It's a great way to meet people as well. The looks of intrigue and the questions from passers by are non stop when I am knocking out some funky Animal Flow moves in the middle of Green Park!!

"Outdoor training can be a great social event. If you feel like you don't want to train alone there are so many great bootcamps and outdoor classes to get involved with or why not try something different like a parkour session. This is on my list of things to try this summer. You could even get together with a group of friends for a good old fashioned game of rounders.

"A lot of parks and outdoor spaces have equipment like parallel bars that you can take advantage of in addition to things like a park bench that can be used for a whole number of exercises like tricep dips or step ups. If your park has a hill you could get involved in some hill sprints too!

"Training outside is awesome for your health and well being. That boost of vitamin D from the sun is great for your bones and your immune system. I know I know.... I am still waiting for the clouds to disappear and for this rain to stop but as soon as it does I will be getting my "move on" outside."