Adding some open-air training to your routine, whether it’s running, riding your bike or doing yoga in the park, can benefit both your mind and your body.
Although not all the mechanisms are well understood, multiple studies have shown a clear link between mental and physical well-being and outdoor exercise.
Mental and physical benefits
Open-air training is good for your mental health. Outdoor exercise, especially in a green space or near water, can improve your mood and self-esteem, and being close to nature has a calming, stress-reducing effect. Exposure to sunlight also lifts your mood while giving you a dose of vitamin D.
Some people find they can work out harder outdoors, so they get a greater physical as well as mental benefit from training. Changing scenery can help keep you interested and willing to go further (you’re not just repeating the same motion in the same place, or watching the clock), while breathing fresh air gives you a greater sense of energy and vitality.
The varied terrain and wind resistance you encounter while running or riding on the road or track rather than in the gym also give you more stimuli to respond to and help improve balance and coordination as well as allowing you to develop better instincts about pacing your…
