Long, sun-filled days mean saying so long to a stuffy gym and hello to biking, swimming, and outdoor exercise. Developing an outdoor training program can enrich your exercise experience and provide you with health increasing benefits such as vitamin D enhancing sunshine for your skin. Outdoor training provides a varied workout and also nourishes the spirit. The wind, water, earth and air are all vital forces and elements that people need to stay healthy and balanced. Not only will exercising outdoors increase your emotional and spiritual health it can also help you sleep better. Modern Canadians spend more time indoors, perhaps reluctantly, than ever before. Push to escape this indoor incarceration and take your training outside.

Perhaps the most obvious questions to answer are what you plan to do outdoors and where you plan to go. If you are an avid stationary bike user at the gym, pull your bike out of the garage and find a local bike trail. Dedicated bike trails are great because they are closed to cars and enable you to go far distances in a scenic environment. Another great cardio exercise is running. The bike paths are also great places to run, as they are safe from traffic, often lined with water fountains, and, if they are hilly, can help build power and speed. Swimming is another great outdoor activity. It develops endurance and upper-body strength. Lakes are great for swimming longer distances since you do not constantly have to stop and turn. If you enjoy playing hockey or figure skating, strap on a pair of roller blades. Inline skating is easily accessible. You can slip on your skates and be skating in a matter of just minutes! Another added benefit is that it can be done either in groups or alone. Recreational inline skating makes for a great social outing with friends, or it provides an individual with an escape should she or he need some time alone to relax and reflect. Also consider participating in sports for recreation. Grab a friend and hit the tennis court or head to the beach to play volleyball. With both, make an effort to run down every ball to strengthen leg muscles and build endurance. Yoga is another great form of exercise that can be done outdoors. A quiet park or the beach serve as a perfect environment to soothe your body, mind and spirit.

If you don’t have access to a nearby beach or park, check out high schools in your area. Many local high schools have basketball and tennis courts, tracks and fields. You may even want to check out football stadiums. Stadium stair climbing is a great way to train your cardiovascular system and you can use the stairs for exercises such as lunges, step-ups, dips and push-ups as well as to perform stretching exercises. A park is another great training venue. Benches, picnic tables, and bars can be used for upper body strength workouts. Before you adopt an outdoor training program be sure to explore the land before you go as training outdoors can increase the risk of injuries. Scout all locations beforehand and become familiar with every crevice, crack and divot.

Want even more oomph - hire a personal trainer for your outdoor training. Personal trainers provide motivation, consistency, safety, individualized instruction, supervision, injury prevention and rehabilitation. Personal trainers wear many hats, serving not only as coach, but also as an educator, confidant, role model and a major source of motivation and encouragement. A personal trainer will develop the most effective program for you based on your fitness evaluation results and personal goals. It's a fact--feeling good makes you look good, and vice versa. Not only can personal trainers help you achieve your health and fitness goals they provide you with positive feedback on your performance and bolster your confidence to take on new challenges.

More people are realizing that they want and need to be outside to combat the stresses of life, work and family. If you have a passion for the outdoors and the thought of exercising in a natural setting fills you with excitement and purpose, consider taking your training outside.

Jenn Naiman, Group Fitness Director

Source: American Council on Exercise Lifefitness Magazine

It never fails: about four weeks after making a New Year’s resolution to start exercising, most people lose motivation to continue. We become frustrated and less focused and fall into a trap of being less active and eating an unhealthy diet. It is crucial to overcome this lack of motivation in order to achieve long-term health and fitness goals.

The first step in achieving exercise motivation is to determine what your goals are. The best type of goals are SMART goals that is, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Identify the who, what, where, when and why and go from there. For instance, a general goal is ‘to get in shape’ and a specific goal is ‘to join a health club and exercise 4 times a week’.

Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for accomplishing your goals. To determine if your goals are measurable ask yourself questions such as how much, how many, and how will I know when it is accomplished.

Attainable: When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps.

Realistic: Be realistic in your goal setting. This is so important in the process. Goals have to be both possible and realistic for you to be able to achieve them. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished.

Timely: A goal should be grounded within a time frame. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. However, if you anchor it within a time frame, "by May 1st", then you've set your mind into motion to begin accomplishing the goal.

The second step is to be creative with your exercise program. Getting on a treadmill every time you exercise probably isn’t going to keep up the necessary motivation. Try a group fitness class or hire a personal trainer to add variety to your routine. If you are still having difficulty, find a workout partner – someone who will hold you accountable for your actions.

Commitment is the last and final stage to achieving exercise motivation. Commitment ignites action. Action leads to success. Sometimes we forget why we are doing the things we are doing. Take time to write a list of reasons to remind yourself why you want to accomplish your goals. If you feel as though you are about to slip, or quit, look over your list and really ask yourself what you are made of.

Many people know that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in Canada. Yet you may be surprised to learn that more women than men suffer from one or more types of CVD. Women are more likely to die from heart disease than from any other disease. The good news is that more and more studies are being conducted to research the relationship between CVD and female morbidity and mortality. Until the body of research on women grows, however, it is essential that women learn how to protect themselves from the disease.

Although the signs and symptoms of CVD can differ between the genders, many of the risk factors for the condition are the same. According to the Canadian Heart Association, the risk factors for heart disease among women include: physical inactivity, high cholesterol, tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, overweight or obesity, and diabetes mellitus.

When discussing cardiovascular disease, perhaps the most important thing to do is emphasize the power of prevention. Women can and should become educated and proactive about what they can do to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease. Start today by taking charge of your health through the following actions:

Get moving - Physical inactivity across the country has reached epidemic proportions. Initiate a reasonable, realistic, enjoyable exercise program. Encouraging women to include more physical activity and exercise in their daily routine is the first step to reducing their risk of CVD. Women can benefit by accumulating 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Specifically, moderate-intensity exercise refers to working at approximately 65 to 70 percent of maximum heart rate. Get the blood pumping with a speed walk or a bike ride. Group fitness classes can provide modifiable workouts, variety and even friendships.

Extinguish the urge to smoke - Smoking is the most preventable risk factor for heart disease. Although smoking rates are declining overall, the decline had been smaller among women, especially younger women. The good news is that the World Health Organization estimates that a year after quitting, the risk of CVD is reduced by 50% after 15 smoke-free years, the risk is near to that of someone who has never smoked. Join a smoking cessation program offered through a local organization, an employee health promotion program or a wellness center. Don’t go it alone – ask for assistance.

Get the numbers - The media have done a great job of making women understand the importance of having regular mammograms, but less enthusiasm has gone to heralding the necessity of checking cholesterol levels. Yet research confirms that low levels of HDL (good cholesterol) are predictive of CVD in women, and after age 65 such levels appear to increase in importance for women even more so than men (Mosca et al. 2000). Take a few minutes out of the day, after an overnight fast, to get a full lipid profile. For a bit of blood and a band-aid, a cholesterol screening can help save your heart.

Reach for the Fruits and Vegetables - Pass on the processed snacks and grab that juicy, nutrient-packed produce.

Don’t get saturated - Avoid foods high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy, certain processed baked goods and all fried foods.

Work toward weight loss - Find a program, a friend or a cookbook for the lighthearted, or just modify your current diet.

It’s that time of year yet again when we declare that this is the year we are going to do something drastic – whether it be to lose weight, get fit, quit smoking or quit drinking - most New Year’s resolutions revolve around our health. Our intentions are great and we usually start off very focused and motivated however, after a few weeks we start to waver and before we know it, our old habits are back in full force. “They” say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit, but if you ask anybody who has attempted numerous diets and fitness regimes they would probably disagree. Months of dedicated workouts can fall by the wayside with just one week of missed activity. So what are we to do, and how are we to do it? How do people get fit and stay fit? We’ve heard it many times before, but it never hurts to hear it again.

Find an activity you like to do. If you don’t know where to begin, try out a facility where there are numerous options to choose from and offers trial periods or short term memberships. If you’re fearful and embarrassed, drag a friend along. It’s far less intimidating when you have somebody by your side.

Ask yourself every morning, “How can I move my body today?” It doesn’t have to be a sweaty, intense regime. Sometimes just rolling off the couch and doing a few push-ups is enough to get you started. When you find yourself walking to the kitchen for yet another snack, try walking lunges around the house a few times before you indulge yourself.

Schedule your workouts into your day timer before you make any other appointments, whether it’s first thing in the morning before you go to work, after you drop the kids off at school, on your lunch hour, after work, or even after dinner. Keep these appointments just as you would any other appointment. Better yet, have a workout buddy to whom you are accountable.

Really confused? Hire a personal trainer to help you develop a program that is specific to your needs. Cost an issue? You may be surprised at how affordable a few sessions can be. Again, accountability is the key.

Invest in a few simple tools, such as an exercise DVD, stability ball or resistance band. If a fitness facility is just not for you, start at home. You may find that as your fitness level increases, so does your self-esteem. Some people start a program by walking in the dark so that they are not seen, and progress from there.

Try using an activity journal. Remind yourself, in writing, why you are doing this. Maybe it’s to lose weight, reduce your risk for heart attack or stroke, strengthen bones, sleep more soundly, lessen your intake of medication, ward off depression...the benefits are endless.

Start small. Set yourself up for success, not failure. Remember, you are not alone. Many have walked your path and are in front of you and many are following. All you have to do is stay on the path and you will be pushed or pulled, depending where you are on the path.