I’m excited to share our second #FitGotReal video with Active Sussex for This Girl Can, this time, exploring fun ways to make a quick and easy park workout to do near you!
In case you didn’t know, since 2015, I’ve been This Girl Can Ambassador with Active Sussex, and have worked with the team to create some fun videos and blog content showcasing the different ways to get active in Brighton and Sussex. You can catch up on previous videos (and see others I’ve made) on my YouTube channel, but for now, let’s take a look at how you can keep fit in your local park.
This video is the second in this #FitGotReal series, celebrating the everyday ways you can get active no matter how busy you are or whatever fitness level you’re starting from. ICYMI, you can watch the home workout video here, with a starring role from George the cat!
You don’t need a gym membership or expensive class to get your fitness fix
Hopefully you’ll have a local park or green space near to your home or workplace to do a quick and easy park workout. There’s lots of simple exercises you can do using a park bench, trees, logs, the playground or ball courts.
This summer I hit my local park to see what playtime I could create.
There are so many physical and mental health benefits to exercising outdoors
I’ve made it no secret that I love getting my fitness fix outside – cycling the South Downs, bootcamp at the beach, or running and doing quick and easy park workouts in my local park, where my fitness journey started.
Exercising outdoors is a great stress reducer and works wonders for both the body and mind. You get a healthy dose of fresh air and (hopefully) vitamin D as well as those hard earned endorphins. One in five people in the UK experience vitamin D deficiency leaving you feeling tired and lethargic, experiencing muscle and bone pain.
So one way to top your vitamin D up is to get outside in the sunlight to exercise.
And even if it is windy and raining, you feel alive, invigorated (and a bit smug) from being out in the elements when you could’ve stayed indoors. Personally I love running in the autumn and winter when the weather’s a bit crisper and the parks are bathed in a carpet of orange and brown.
There’s something really wholesome about exercising outdoors whatever the weather, and studies show working out in your local park, for example, brings more restorative mental health benefits than getting your fitness fix in an urban environment – whatever the weather.
It’s worth noting too, that the absolute best cup of tea you’ll ever have is the one directly after a wet and windy outdoor run, cycle ride or fitness session in the great outdoors.
But don’t just take my word for it, science agrees.
A FieldsInTrust report calculated that outdoor exercise delivered an estimated £2.2bn of health benefits to adults in England each year, and multiple studies have shown that the first five minutes of ‘green exercise’ has the biggest impact on mood and self-esteem, with immediate psychological health benefit.