Getting exercise doesn’t have to be drudgery. Remember back when you were a kid (before smartphones and video games) how many activities you did that you loved doing and they gave you a good workout too. Unfortunately we often quit the things we love because work gets in the way, and then quitting those things causes a decline in your body that makes those things harder to do as you get older.
The key is to build your muscles and stamina slowly before you just dive in to a chosen activity.
There are lots of sports activities you can use for exercise instead of going to the gym. Below are just a few you can choose from:
Sporting Activities
Activity | Description |
|---|---|
Backpacking | A great way to get aerobic exercise and carrying a backpack builds leg muscles |
Baseball/Softball | Short bursts of cardio and overall workout for upper and lower body |
Basketball | Serious cardio and really good for the leg muscles |
Bicycling (Road) | Riding bike is a low impact way to get your cardio in |
Boxing | Boxing is good cardio and a whole body workout |
Camping | This isn't always a good workout but there is usually hiking involved |
Canoeing | Good upper body workout |
Fencing | The sport of fencing has some good cardio and is good for toning lots of muscle groups |
Golf | It's really only exercise if you don't use a golf cart, but there is some upper body moving |
Handball | Some serious cardio and whole body workout |
Hiking | Great cardio and leg workout |
Hockey | Provides very good cardio and leg workout |
Jogging/Running | Great aerobic workout and leg muscles |
Kayaking | Good upper body workout |
Kickboxing | Like boxing, good cardio and whole body workout |
Kitesurfing | Great whole body workout, with good cardio |
Martial Arts | Provides a great workout for all muscle groups |
Mountain Climbing | Another superb way of working out muscles in all areas |
Mountain Biking | Provides a huge aerobic workout for to build a strong heart and lungs. Also legs. |
Racquetball | Like handball you'll get a full body workout and some really heavy breathing |
Rugby/Soccer | Both of these sports provide a serious lung workout as well as your lower body |
Skiing/Snowboarding | Requires a lot of your leg muscles, plus it's a surprisingly good cardio workout |
Spelunking | Twisting and crawling around in tight spots gives a good full body workout |
Surfing | Good lower body workout and great core strength training |
Swimming | Excellent cardio and a workout for lots of muscle groups |
Volleyball | Lots of stretching, movement and cardio |
Weight Lifting | Technically not a sport unless you get competitive, but a full body workout |
Wind Surfing | Lots of upper body movement and use of legs too |