Summer Workouts You Don’t Even Notice

Here in Alaska, summer is the time to get out there and make the most of our wonderful natural resources and beauty in this state. Summer activities can range all over the place and I find most revolve around the outdoors. What we usually don’t notice, is just how much physical activity we get out of this season. We get to do what we love to do and get physical exercise in a pleasant way.  Even better, we cram as much of these activities in 3 months as humanly possible.  Because we only get three months of good weather truly.

If you’ve read any of my posts before you may have noticed I like to run. And I do. Strangely enough I’ve discovered I really don’t like to run in the summer. For one, winter time is so serene, cool, calm and peaceful that I enjoy my time suffering with frozen eyelashes.  In the summer time it’s humid, hot, crowded and generally I physically feel unpleasantly sweaty.  Sooo… I prefer different activities to in the summer outdoors… and some you don’t even noticing the workout.

Swimming. Okay… we all know this is a workout. The beauty is that we don’t do it only to be physically fit. So it’s enjoyable! And when this ridiculously hot Alaskan sun gets to beating down on our cars… after work all some of us want to do is jump in a lake. Lucky us there are so many lakes you can easily find one on your way home. You can jump on in that lake, cool off, get your aerobic exercise in and enjoy the weather again. I remember going to the lake in High School. It was a pretty good social gathering in which to check out the football jocks and take a dip.  I never once noticed or cared that I was working my abs, arms and legs vigorously swimming and flirting away in the sun.

I think I need to get down to the lake… but swimming isn’t the only thing you can do…

Fishing. Maybe this one took you by surprise… and if it did I’m guessing you don’t fish much. Any new or avid fisherman will know that a day casting that line will add up to one exhausted night. If you are fly fishing or using a lure, you are doing nothing but casting and reeling for hours. That’s if you don’t get a fish. Let’s say you’re in Alaska and get that lucky King Salmon. If that thing is over 30 pounds you’re in for a real workout. You’ll have to bring that thing in to the shore than wade out and net it in order to land it on the shore.  Caring a big 30+ pound fish that is thrashing is no easy chore. And then there is the processing involved. All told you get a lucky fish, you’re looking at almost an hour of laborious work to gut, clean, filet and package that thing. Even if you don’t get a fish you’ll be sore from casting and reeling in your line, wandering the shores, standing in the shallows, etc.

Just last week we got a King. I was sore for almost two days. That’s on par with how I am after a day at the gym.  There’s a bonus here though… I didn’t know I was working that hard AND I got to bring home dinner!

Walking = The Best Exercise

Walking has being shown to be the most beneficial exercise a body can get any more. It’s rather surprising when you think about it because walking is what we do as a species more than any other activity. Unless we are counting sitting… which is really the most common activity so I suppose it’s not so shocking in that context.

There are many reasons to get out there and get moving. The American Heart Association reports that just 30 minutes of walking a day can help:

• Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
• Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• Improve blood lipid profile
• Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
• Enhance mental well-being
• Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
• Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
• Reduce the risk of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes

The best part… walking can literally be done at anytime, anywhere and with anyone! Need to chat with your pals and exchange gossip? Invite them for a walk in the park or give them a call and check out your neighborhood while you talk.  Have an active dog (boy do I!), just strap on their leash and take them on a new path. I remember when I was younger there was a Mall Walkers Club that my mom was part of. These ladies (they were primarily women) would come together each weekend and just wander the local mall in laps… chatting and window shopping away.  I haven’t seen anything like that since we moved to Alaska but I’m sure they are still around.  There are also little tricks you can do like parking in a spot farthest from the building you are going too. I do this for our grocery trips and there’s a bonus in that you completely avoid the people competing for spots.  Do you have an interoffice email of information you need to share? Why not just take a walk over to their office instead!

The options are literally endless and if you can work an extra 30 minutes of walking into each day, you will be able to reap serious healthy benefits.