How do I Choose the Best Summer Workout?

When you want to choose the best summer workout, you should consider several factors before making your final decision. You may want to vary your routine by picking both indoor and outdoor activities. When exercising outdoors, sun protection is important to prevent skin cancer and sunstroke.

You should plan a warm weather seasonal workout so that you'll be outside during the cooler parts of the day and doing indoor routines during the mid-mornings or mid-afternoons, depending when the sun is the strongest. Since you can still suffer sun damage on cloudy days, wearing sunblock and a hat is a must during each outdoor workout in the summer. Jogging or running one morning and playing a game of tennis another evening can make for a varied outdoor summer workout.

Other great outside summer activities are cycling and hiking. Be sure to carry enough water and healthy snacks. The best way to participate in these activities is with at least another person; you should also keep the trips short and on guided trails. It's easy to become lost when hiking or cycling in unfamiliar territory; if you're not prepared with food, shelter and clothing, what was supposed to be a simple summer workout could become serious.

It's a good idea to choose several alternate workouts to do indoors. Exercising inside doesn't mean you have to stay home working out with a fitness compact disc (CD) unless that's what you want to do. If you don't have or want a gym membership, you can still use the facilities at your local community or recreation center as part of your summer workout. Many community recreation centers have stationary bicycles and weightlifting equipment as well as an indoor swimming pool.

The public swimming pool may be much noisier than one at a gym, but you can limit your time there by concentrating on doing laps. Gradually increasing the number of laps you do each session is best; this can strengthen and tone your body as well as help improve your overall fitness. Make sure before you go that the pool will have at least a lane or two sectioned off for lap swimming or you won't be able to complete much of a summer workout. If the recreation center offers water aerobics classes that you'd like to try, it's best not to overdo the first few sessions or you may experience sore muscles.