<strong>Cardio Training Tips For The Great Outdoors
Summer is always around one corner or another; even when it feels like it’s the dead of winter. After all, summer is only ever 8 months away at the most. But perhaps we should qualify that by saying that becoming prepared for summer and its many outdoor opportunities and fun-filled days, is something that pays off rapidly, no matter what the season. Before you know it, the preparations that you make for summer in crisp weather, are soon leading into hot, sunny days with zero cloud cover. Each year, we find ourselves asking, “Where did the time go?”
It’s never too early – or too late – to get in touch with summer’s many activities, or in shape for them. Many activities that we can enjoy as a part of a season of sun shining for 12 + hours daily can be enjoyed in one form or another all year long. And that isn’t only for those lucky enough to live in hot climates, such as L.A. or San Diego, that’s for just about everyone! In fact, the time we spend training in these activities during seasons outside of summer, only make our participation in them during the summer months, all the more rewarding. The key is, that it may take us folks with four definite seasons a little extra creativity to come up with the perfect training tool or activity to both enjoy in the moment and prepare us for summer fun!
So what does everyone like to do in summer? Well, if you’re an active person, hiking or trail running is high on the list, as is biking and swimming. These take a certain amount of strength, but mostly they require endurance, which makes them a great way to get outside and get some sun and cardio at the same time.
You may not be able to do all of these exercises where you live, but go ahead and pick one that you may be able to do and run (no pun intended) with it. Trust us, exercising outdoors beats the panties off doing cardio in some sweaty gym next to a 300lb. housewife.
Outdoor Cardiovascular Activities
Many of you who are out of shape may consider the simple act of pounding tent poles into the ground at a campsite a cardiovascular activity, but we can assure you it isn’t! However, if you’re anything like us, you have to start someplace, and maybe pounding tent poles is all you’ve been motivated to do for the past 5 years. Just think if you brought along a pair of hiking boots or a bicycle… life might become even more exciting!
Cycling
Since cycling can encompass more than one type, we broke this category in half and devoted equal time to mountain biking and road cycling. Each requires different equipment. People engage in them for very different reasons, but choosing either can provide innumerable benefits to those seeking cardiovascular fitness.
Mountain Biking
The mountain bike is the weekend warrior’s finest tool. Mountain bikes can run anywhere from 9 for a basic model (purchased at a membership warehouse) that includes no front fork shocks, and a heavier steel frame, all the way to ,500 for a model imported from Europe that highlights a lightweight aluminum frame, shocks, a suspension seat for position and comfort and the highest quality gears and sprockets. It’s the difference between hideous tasting margarine and triple cream gourmet butter, and it all depends upon your budget and how intensely you want to focus on the sport.
Does each do the job of taking you from garage to trail? You bet. Though, you might require carpel tunnel surgery for your wrists after riding the model without suspension over a period of years and miles.
Places to Go: The great thing is, mountain biking offers something for just about everyone from the youngest rider to the grayest of seniors. For the adventurous, many ski areas in the central part of the U.S. and some on the East and West coasts will offer summer programs and passes for mountain biking along the many trails within a ski area. Snowboard terrain parks, complete with half pipes, are opened up to adventurous (read: young and fearless) folks who want to ride mountain bikes and BMX cycles down a course of rails and obstacles. For those more cerebrally adventurous folks, portions of Lewis and Clark Trails from North Dakota across into Oregon are opened up in the summer for those wanting sane, leisurely, historic rides across gentle hills and valleys.
Equipment needed:
Mountain bike, helmet, and cycling shoes if you forgo toe baskets. A good flat kit,
Calories burned:
Recreational riding ~ between 10-15 calories per minute
Hardcore trail riding ~ between 15-22 calories per minute
Advantage:
Anyone can get on a mountain bike and ride without instruction, the ability to commune with nature, by engaging physically, mentally and emotionally.
Disadvantages:
Bone, soft tissue and internal injuries at one time or another are likely. Death on trails with trees and rocks is always a possibility, even with good equipment. Ride according to ability at all times.
Benefits:
Burns body fat, strengthens leg muscles, improves balance and dexterity
THINK: Circuit training on wheels
Mountain Biking Capital of the U.S.: Moab, Utah
Most Intriguing Mountain Biking Trip:
206 mile, week long, Hut-to-Hut travel from Telluride, Colorado to Moab, Utah, for more information: www.sanjuanhuts.com
Road Cycling
Touring bikes are the antithesis of the mountain bike. They are much lighter in total weight, typically feature an aluminum frame these days, and are much more expensive to own and maintain because of the quality of gearing. Whereas most people would probably just store their mountain bikes in the garage all year, without having cleaned the mud off, touring bikes specifically designed for road cycling require maintenance and up-keep; the least of which is cleaning dirt off a frame! Road cycling, however, provides the purest of cardio advantages, whereas mountain biking can often make heart rates fluctuate too severely during actual trail riding to provide consistent fat burning benefits.
Prices for adequate touring cycles start at around 0 for a very basic, heavier model with no bells and whistles, an uncomfortable “saddle” and gears that will eventually break without too much prompting, all the way up to 00 for an entry level world class cycle. If you plan on cycling religiously, it pays to pay in the upper range. That range would likely start at 00 for a reliable road bike you can take out and ride between 50 and 100 miles, 5 days per week.
Equipment needed:
A good quality road bike, a flat kit, helmet, biker shorts with butt padding for long rides, a quality saddle that doesn’t compromise genitalia, a map or GPS device, and a heart rate monitor.
Calories burned:
20-25 per minute on extended rides, depending upon speed.
Advantages:
Because you’re riding on pavement, the need to worry about changes in terrain is usually non-existent. You can keep a steady pace and burn fat at a rate set by you on your heart rate monitor. Road access is much easier to come by than trail access, so you can literally ride anywhere.
Disadvantages:
The initial investment is high for those who aren’t sure. Not investing in a good bike can cause you to formulate an opinion of road cycling you might not otherwise form with superior equipment. You run the risk of getting hit by a car, or the injuries you sustain from constant strain can require rehab.
Benefits:
Burns fat, allows the person to see the world from a bike, builds great quads, hamstrings and calves because feet are attached and part of pedal. Can produce elite cardiovascular conditioning with half the stress of running.
Cycling Capital of North America:
Montreal, Canada
Most Intriguing Cycling Event:
Montreal Bike Fest’s “Tour de I’lle” and “Un Tour la Nuit” in Montreal, Canada – a carnival of cyclery held in early June each year, where 45,000 folks peddle through the streets of Montreal; both during the day and on night rides through the city. For more information, contact either:
www.tourisme-montreal.org
OR
www.velo.qc.ca
Hiking/Trail Running
We lumped these together because they are, after all, the total package of logical progression from sometime weekend warrior to elite athletic runner. Start with hiking and if you want more than beautiful scenery and gently inclined trails, pick up the pace and start running.
Hiking
The great thing about hiking is that you can do it anywhere. And the best part is, it usually costs nothing. You can hike across the K-Mart parking lot over to the local A&P or you can hike a famous national forest trail in search of mountain goats and shortness of breath. Dizzying and exhilarating is how anyone might describe serious hiking, however. And there is a difference. Walking is walking and hiking is hiking. The difference is, there is usually a trail involved in hiking, and the terrain can change on a moment’s notice. That’s the excitement and unknown element inherent in hiking that makes it so appealing to well over 1 million people in the U.S. each year. And while that’s still a lot of sedentary folk left behind, more and more people are getting into hiking as a way of life – either seasonally or year ‘round – in order to improve their level of fitness and to help them commune with nature.
The great thing is, there’s a hike for practically anyone of any age and physical condition. There are flat trails that are one mile or less – something
