Prepping for the Outdoors

As we come closer to the end of summer and the beginning of the off-season for many outdoor enthusiasts the question comes to mind of what next season will bring. Do you spend your winter lounging around only to see the start of next season come with that grueling beginning phase of retraining your body? Or do you focus on that goal of maintaining your summer fitness through the winter only to come out stronger than ever? Your prep for the outdoors season can make or break your progress on your goal. There are a few general training methods that can be utilized to make the transition from indoors to outdoors easier.

Practice Makes Perfect

The more obvious method is, quite plainly, do the same (or similar) activity either inside. If you’re a hiking enthusiast, hop on a stairmaster at your gym. This machine is fairly adequate at continuing to develop muscular endurance to prepare for those big peaks.

It is similar for cyclists, many gyms offer cycling classes that can allow you to get ready to hit the roads. The comparisons continue as rock climbing gyms are popping up more and more to allow you to maintain that upper body strength and footwork as the off-season comes.

Take some time and really think about what your goal is and see what some indoor alternatives are.

Cross-Training

Cross-training is described as an alternate form of training from your regular sport/activity. An example would be a soccer player participating in basketball during the off-season. This can be a complimentary form of movement, or it can be a complete opposite. An example of a complimentary take on cross-training could be a rock climber (a sport that generally involves a lot of upper body pulling) swimming laps. Swimming involves continuous upper body movement; so we can keep our upper body endurance when we’re not able to hit those big walls during the off-season. This is just a simple example of some synergistic cross training, there are many more options available. Cross training also offers a mental break from the strain that can come with training repetitively for the same sport. Give your body a break from the repetitive and maybe try something else. Which leads me to my next section.

Try Something Different

Now, before you go and panic at the thought of not pursuing your main sport of choice hear me out. There are SO many different activities and sports that are becoming available and more well known to the public. If you are a hiker, try some winter alpining.

If you are a mountain biker, try cross-country skiing. If you’re nervous about learning a new skill and don’t have any guidance, ask your local outdoor shops if there are any courses or anyone willing to help you learn. There are many options to choose from and, you never know, you may end up finding a new passion to pursue.

So get ready, and get outside!

Maddy has worked in the health and fitness industry for 5 years. She has a bachelors in Exercise Science and has recently received her Masters in Exercise Physiology. She has worked with a wide demographic of clients as a Personal Trainer and loves helping people reach their goals and continue to grow.  She is an outdoor enthusiast and dedicates her workouts to rock climbing, hiking and whatever new experiences may come her way.

Main Photo Credit: Bhuvnesh Kumar Singh/shutterstock.com; Second Photo Credit: Jacob Lund/shutterstock.com; Third Photo Credit: yanik88/shutterstock.com