The gym might be a great place to work out, but it doesn’t suit everyone. If you want to stay fit without hitting the treadmill or lifting weights, there are plenty of other options out there.
For the discerning gentleman who wants to maintain a peak level of fitness, try these effective gym alternatives…
BOXING
The ultimate gentleman’s sport, boxing is a fantastic way to stay in shape and improve your fitness levels. Giving you an intense cardio workout, you can rely on boxing to improve respiratory function, enhance your hand-eye coordination and increase your overall strength. While boxing will, of course, help you to build muscle mass in your upper arms, it’s also an effective way to train your legs and core. A strong punch requires force from the entire body, so you can be sure boxing will help you maintain every part of your physique.
If you don’t fancy duking it out in the ring, don’t let this put you off boxing. While you may not want to go twelve rounds with Floyd Mayweather, you can still use boxing as an integral part of your fitness routine. Install a punch bag or speedball at home and you can train whenever it’s convenient. Alternatively, invest in a skipping rope and try shadow boxing to boost your heart rate, burn fat and tone muscle.
TENNIS
The availability of indoor and outdoor courts ensures tennis is a sport which can be played all year round. Whether you hire a tennis ball machine for a solo workout, play a singles match with an opponent or turn a doubles tournament into a social and sporting occasion, you’ll be sure to improve your fitness levels if you play regularly.
Offering a total body workout, tennis can help to strengthen almost every muscle in body; relying as much on your core strength and leg power as the force from your arms. However, tennis doesn’t just assist with muscle toning and strengthening, it’s also an effective sport for increasing cardio performance.
A decent tennis match and a regular playing routine will increase your anaerobic performance, reduce your blood pressure, lower your resting heart rate and even increase your bone density. Delivering a multitude of health benefits, playing tennis is one of the most effective ways to keep fit, and you needn’t go near a gym to enjoy it.
FISHING
When you’re considering how to get fit outside of the gym, fishing may not be the first sport that springs to mind. However, you’d be surprised at how many health benefits fishing offers and just how much of a workout it can be. As well as working all of the main muscle groups, fishing gives your heart and lungs much-needed exercise too. When you’re setting up, casting off and reeling in, you’ll be engaging your arms, shoulders, back, legs and core, so you can rely on fishing to help improve and maintain overall muscle tone.
Of course, fishing isn’t a sport which can be done anywhere, at any time, but you won’t need too much equipment either. With appropriate rods, nets and fly fishing flies, you can set off to your nearest lake, pond or river to fish to your heart’s content. Find your bliss.
As well as delivering a great physical workout, fishing can also be extremely beneficial for the mind. The sport requires increased concentration and focus, so your mind will be flexing itself too, but it’s also a time to relax and enjoy the great outdoors. Whether you want to boost your vitamin D levels of simply de-stress after a hectic week, fishing will reenergize your mind and your body.
GOLF
As one of the most popular sports in the world, you’re never far from a golf course. Giving you the ideal opportunity to keep fit without resorting to the gym, a round of golf will increase blood flow and keep your heart pumping well. As a result, playing regularly can help to naturally reduce your levels of harmful cholesterol and lower the risk of developing heart disease. To maximize the health benefits, avoid the golf carts and buggies, and walk around the course instead. With many golf courses offering walks of between 5-7km, you’ll get a great workout before you’ve even swung a club.
When bad weather stops play, you won’t be forced to miss out on your exercise either. Simply head to the driving range to practice your shots and benefit from the muscle strengthening it offers. Golfers don’t rely on arm strength to secure the perfect shot; it takes your entire body to get the right power and direction behind the ball.
Like many sports, golf is fantastic for your mental wellbeing as well as your physical fitness. Being outdoors for extended periods of time can be enriching in itself but exercising in the open air can help to reduce anxiety, minimize stress and boost positivity. Remember – the golf course and club is an ideal place to network, so you can meet new people and increase your circle of associates while getting a workout in too.
CALISTHENICS
An effective calisthenics routine can sculpt your body to perfection, and you can achieve exquisite results without needing to visit a gym or health club. By using your body weight to increase your strength and build muscle, calisthenics requires minimal equipment, and can actually be practiced without any additional equipment, if you prefer. With plenty of instructional information and videos online, as well as private tuition and classes, it’s easy to learn how to perform calisthenics, and you won’t have to wait long to reap the benefits of this workout.
Often dubbed a ‘street workout’, chances are you’ve probably seen someone performing calisthenics without realizing exactly what it is. Of course, you don’t have to use street lamps and park benches to workout. If you want to practice calisthenics privately, you can do so at home or in your garden. With a range of movements and routines, you can work out your enire body using this form of exercise, and improve your posture and cardio health too.
Whether you practice incline press-ups, muscle dips or walking lunges, calisthenics is a fantastic way to get fit and stay fit, without the need for extra equipment or a gym membership.
TAI CHI
With a vast range of health benefits, as well as defense training and meditative qualities, tai chi is a brilliant way to enhance your physical health and your mental wellbeing. Practiced for centuries, tai chi can be practiced by anyone, regardless of your current physicality. Whether you’re looking for a way to maintain muscles which are toned to perfection or you’re starting out on your fitness journey and want to increase your strength, tai chi is the ideal option.
When practicing tai chi, you move through a range of positions or motions. Typically, the movements are circular in nature and don’t involve pushing your body to its limits. Indeed, tai chi is defined by the slow rate at which participations move, so it certainly isn’t a form of high-intensity training. Instead, tai chi encourages you to focus on your breathing and body awareness as you move. Improving both your muscle strength, balance and endurance, the slow, measured movements of tai chi shouldn’t be mistaken for an easy workout. In fact, tai chi may bring more health benefits than any other type of exercise.
Regular tai chi practice has been shown to improve aerobic capabilities, so it’s beneficial for your respiratory system and gives your lungs and heart an effective workout. In addition to this, tai chi increases strength, tones muscles and builds muscle mass, so it’s ideal if you want to enhance your physical shape.
As a low impact form of exercise, tai chi is the perfect solution if you’ve been plagued by injuries or your joints are starting to suffer from repetitive workouts in the gym. By focusing on appropriate postures while exercising, tai chi carries a minimal risk of injury and can actually help to prevent health problems from occurring.
As an effective way to de-stress, tai chi doesn’t just offer physical benefits either. While the improvement in your physical health can certainly help to enhance your mental wellbeing, the focus on breathing, mindfulness, and meditation in tai chi can have a direct impact on your state of mind. Helping you to banish stress and anxiety, tai chi has been shown to help people escape the strains of day-to-day life and foster a calmer and more positive outlook.
While any new exercise regime should be sanctioned by a physician before you get started, there are a myriad of ways to keep fit without hitting the gym. If you’re looking for something you can do at home or while you’re traveling, calisthenics, boxing, and tai chi are both great options. Alternatively, if you want to explore the great outdoors and add a social side to your workouts, join friends a round of golf, a day of fishing or a game of tennis.