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Conquering a brutal workout in a gym can feel absolutely amazing. With all the endorphins running through your body, representing the success of your feat, you feel accomplished and high.

However, I’ve noticed that I get very similar feelings of “accomplishment” and euphoria simply by spending time outdoors and in nature. What if you were to combine these? Would this multiply whatever “feel-good chemicals” (probably dopamine) trigger such euphoria?

We’re not sure. However, studies show that there may be benefits to outdoor workouts that you can’t get indoors, or at least not to the same degree. Scroll down to explore what these benefits are!

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The Incredible Benefits of Outdoor Exercise

Intro

We’ve become detached from the natural world around us. The average American spends 90% of their time indoors [1]. Not only that but a greater percentage of that time is being spent doing things like mindless social media scrolling. Aside from our modern diets and physical inactivity, this might be the biggest lifestyle change our species has experienced throughout its 300,000-year existence. The combination of all three of those factors is a recipe for poor health. 

With some proactive effort, though, we can kill at least two of these birds with one stone, and that stone is outdoor exercise. By exercising outside, especially in natural environments, we reconnect with our ancestral roots as nomadic hunter-gatherers. 

The day-to-day lives of these nomads were spent foraging for food and socializing - all of which was done outside. They even slept outside.

As groups of people settled in permanent locations, with the advent of agriculture, shelter took on a more prominent role in the human experience. Caves and other natural formations were the first expressions of this, but over time human shelters became more culturally elaborate. Eventually, we created the types of indoor living spaces you see today, which can be so isolated from the natural world - even lacking windows.

Ever since building those initial thatch huts, the trajectory of our lifestyles has been pointing towards indoor sedentism. To combat the negative health consequences of this, we must engage in exercise. The benefits of general exercise for our physiology have been well documented, but the benefits of combining exercise with our natural yearning for the great outdoors have gotten less attention than they deserve. 

The Advantages and Benefits of Outdoor Exercise

First, there are three very straightforward advantages to exercising outside. 

1. Price. For starters, it's completely free of charge. In a world of overpriced gym memberships, the cost-effective choice of running outside rather than on a treadmill could be a major incentive for someone looking to start their exercise journey.

2. Accessibility. In addition to paying for a gym membership, you have to travel to and from the facility. For many people, the closest (reasonable) gym could be up to 30 minutes away. It’s already hard enough for some people to find the time to exercise, let alone the additional time of traveling. Alternatively, you can simply take a step out of your front door and immediately start running. 

3. The varying terrains and uneven ground surfaces you may experience while exercising outdoors are something lacking in many indoor spaces. These force your body to make micro-adjustments to your movements as a way of maintaining balance and stability - something that a lot of flat and symmetrical gym settings can’t offer.

Second, studies are starting to show the positive health benefits of outdoor exercise that you may not get from indoor exercise - or at least not to the same degree. For example, a 2011 literature review found that outdoor exercise is more likely to increase feelings of revitalization, positive engagement, and energy and decrease tension, confusion, anger, and depression [2].

Arguably the most important finding of this review was that study participants often reported “greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and declared a greater intent to repeat the activity at a later date.” The key feature of any workout regimen is adherence. Like diet, the routine you are more likely to adhere to is the one that will benefit you the most. 

If exercising outdoors means that you are more likely to do it again, then that is already a sufficient justification to ditch the indoor gym that bores you. 

Getting more sunlight is another example.

Vitamin D is essential for helping the body absorb calcium, and roughly 80% of it is generated by sunlight [4]. Without sufficient vitamin D, too little calcium is absorbed, which can lead to weakened bones. 

Aside from vitamin D, the extra sunlight can have the added bonus of increasing your quality of sleep. Regardless of exercise,

However, a study published in 2014 by Hayan Lee and colleagues looked at the relationship between sunlight, sleep, and exercise. When comparing individuals who engaged in aerobic exercise alone (walking or jogging) to those who did so with sunlight, the latter scored higher in terms of their overall quality of sleep [6]. 

As a bonus, outdoor exercise might even enhance creativity. One study found that in addition to increased positive emotion, brain areas associated with divergent creativity were more active in people who went for an outdoor run compared to an indoor run [7]. The authors concluded their study by saying:

Remember, these are all in addition to typical physiological benefits one gets from exercise in general, including increases in muscular, bone, and cardiovascular health, which in turn reduce your risks of heart attacks, cancer, strokes, and type 2 diabetes [8] Physical activity and the outdoors, two features of the lifestyles our species is adapted to, can have synergistic effects on our health. 

Outdoor Exercise Variants

So, what outdoor exercises or movements should you incorporate into your workout schedule?  It’s a matter of personal preference. As I stated earlier, adherence is arguably the most important variable. You want to pick the exercise that you enjoy and are most likely going to stick with over the long haul. That being said, here are a few options you can explore.

Most in line with our human origins would be things like walking, running, or rucking. These are activities that have deep roots in our evolutionary history, all of which are attributable to our transition to habitually walking on two feet roughly 4 million years ago. Doing these outside in general will be sufficient, but if you can find green spaces like parks or hiking trails, that’s even better. 

A research study looking at hikers on the Appalachian Trail found that they came away from their experience with feelings of self-fulfillment, self-reliance, and generally greater enjoyment of life [9]. 

Trail running, which is just hiking with a little more speed, is another great option. One study looking at the physiology and biomechanics of trail running found that a) VO2 max is a predictor of performance (suggesting that trail running targets your oxygen uptake abilities) and b) the uphill and downhill segments of the trail had differential effects on participants more so than the flat sections (suggesting that these incline variables pose as unique challenges) [10]. 

Rock climbing is another variant. Of course, you must first make sure you are doing this in a legally permitted area and you must have the proper safety equipment. Climbing with your upper body challenges you with its emphasis on vertical locomotion, something that humans are actually no longer adapted to. You can improve various fitness markers by doing so. 

A meta-analysis looked at the effects of rock climbing on the physical fitness markers of college students and discovered that it can “significantly improve Handgrip strength, Lower limb pedaling power, Vertical Jump, Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Sit-Ups and Sit-and-reach, and significantly increase VO2max, however, rock climbing did not show significant improvement on Heart rate and Body fat percentage” [11]. While they did not find improvements in heart rate or body fat percentage, these other metrics are certainly still valuable. 

The last form of outdoor exercise I’d like to share is open-water swimming. Again, safety is most important and this should be done under the supervision of a professional lifeguard. Having said that, open-water swimming is accompanied by various mental health benefits. A survey of 717 open-water swimmers found that improved mental health was the most important benefit gained from the activity [12]. A review of 14 different studies exploring these effects confirmed that open-water swimming can improve mood and well-being while reducing feelings of mental distress [13].

Conclusion (Thoughts on Children and the Outdoors)

I can’t say that I have no personal bias on this topic. I’ve felt a deep connection with both exercise and the outdoors from a young age. To think that so many people don’t experience such feelings of awe and gratitude is disheartening to me. It’s especially unfortunate that the cultures we’ve created make it more difficult for young kids to experience the joys of being physically active in nature. They are drawn to the addictive properties of their tablets more than the natural sources of dopamine found in playing with friends outside.

Luckily, we are starting to see a large-scale cultural shift discouraging those addictive devices. In their place, I’d like to see a reintegration of the natural world into the everyday lives of our youth. We should be encouraging them to play outside for their own benefit, and so they develop into adults who embrace the benefits of outdoor exercise.

References:

[1] Klepeis, N., et al. 2001. “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants.” Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 11:231–252.

[2] Coon, J., et al. 2011. “Does Participating in Physical Activity in Outdoor Natural Environments Have a Greater Effect on Physical and Mental Wellbeing than Physical Activity Indoors.” Environmental Science and Technology 45(5):1761-72.

[3] Holick, M. 2008. “Vitamin D and sunlight: strategies for cancer prevention and other health benefits.” Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 3(5):1548-1554.

[4] Razzaque, M. 2018. “Sunlight exposure: Do health benefits outweigh harm?” The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 175:44-48.

[5] Blume, C., et al. 2019. “Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood.” Somnologie (Berl) 23(3):147-156.

[6] Lee, H., et al. 2014. “Effects of exercise with or without light exposure on sleep quality and hormone responses.” Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry 18(3):293-9.

[7] Kimura, T., et al. 2023. “Comparison of the effects of indoor and outdoor exercise on creativity: an analysis of EEG alpha power.” Frontiers in Psychology 14:1161533.

[8] Eigenschenk, B., et al. 2019. “A Systematic Literature Review and Reflections on Evidence.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public 16(6):937.

[9] Hill, E., et al. 2009. “Benefits of Hiking: A Means-End Approach on the Appalachian Trail.” Journal of Unconventional Parks, Tourism, & Recreation Research 2(1)19-27.

[10] Björklund, G., et al. 2019. “Biomechanical Adaptations and Performance Indicators in Short Trail Running.” Frontiers in Physiology 10:506.

[11] Li, L., 2018. “Effects of Rock Climbing Exercise on Physical Fitness among College Students: A Review Article and Meta-analysis.” Iranian Journal of Public Health 47(10):1440-1452.

[12] Oliver, D., et al. 2023. “Self-reported benefits and risks of open water swimming to health, wellbeing and the environment: Cross-sectional evidence from a survey of Scottish swimmers.” PLoS One 18(8):e0290834.

[13] Overbury, K., et al. 2023. “Swimming in nature: A scoping review of the mental health and wellbeing benefits of open water swimming.”Journal of Environmental Psychology 90:1–18.

Fit Fuel Song Suggestion

The Fit Fuel song suggestions are hand-picked by yours truly to elicit the motivation (and possibly aggression) needed to initiate or persist through a grueling workout. They consist of heavy, brutal guitar riffs and gruesomely guttural vocals. Additionally, I timestamp what I believe to be the best riff of the song - one that will kick your nervous system into overdrive when approaching a personal record (PR).