Yes! It is!
Compared to gym machines, exercise outdoors is more effective, more efficient and immeasurably more fun. That’s because gym machines put you in a fixed position. For example, when you use the seated chest press or leg press, your natural functional movement patterns are taken away. Functional movements are simply the way your body was built and intended to move—squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling, bending, and twisting. And functional movement patterns are essential to a healthy, athletic, and flexible body.
Because we live in a three dimensional world, our joints move in various planes of motion at once. Our exercise should do the same. That’s because in the real world, we use many different movements everyday:
For example, we squat, stand and rotate when we lift bags of groceries into the car. We move up, down, side-to-side, diagonally when we play with our kids or pets.
Outdoor Fitness exercises such as lunging up a hill and performing full-body triceps dips on a log, move your body through an infinite number of constantly changing planes of motion—putting the movement back in. In addition, studies have shown that exercising on the uneven terrain pulls in 3-5 times more muscle fiber when compared to a treadmill or flat floor.
So, for the best results, toss the indoors out!
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