Outdoor recreational activities have very positive physical fitness impacts. As most of these are low intensity, they can be enjoyed throughout our lives, making them great choices for older people as well. Activities like bushwalking, swimming, surfing or cycling are can be enjoyed throughout life. These activities show improvement in many different fitness components.
Cardiovascular Endurance: Research has shown that due to the changing environment and scenery, people tend to do exercise for longer when outdoors. This means that our heart rate remains elevated for longer periods of time, improving our heart health and endurance. In activities such as surfing, the demands are constantly changing. From high intensity spurts of paddling to periods of rest, this has similar effects to interval training. Bushwalking in hilly areas and across different surfaces can also have this effect as well.
Muscular Strength/ Endurance: The longer duration of participating in outdoor activities can lead to big improvements in muscular endurance. A paddleboard or kayak, for example, will improve core strength and muscular endurance in most muscles of the body. This also improves balance (see below)
The ever- changing terrain or conditions faced outdoors will also lead to new demands on the body that are not faced in more predictable environments. This is often felt in people walking on beaches for long periods of time, who will often end up with very sore feet the next day as they are not used to using the muscles in their feet like this. With practice, these muscles strengthen, reducing the chance of injury and allowing more activity to occur for longer.
Balance: Many outdoor activities will improve balance, due to the changing terrain or conditions. An example of this is paddleboarding. Continual adjustments will need to be made to maintain balance, requiring good core strength and stabilising muscles in the feet and legs. This type of activity has huge benefits for older people and decreases the chances of falls, one of the biggest causes of ill health in older Australian’s.
Cycling is another example. For older Australian’s, the longer they are able to remain cycling and maintain balance, the more healthy they will remain as they age. The increasing popularity of E-bikes is enabling people to continue to practice and maintain their balance for longer, continuing to reduce their chances of falls.
Moving outdoors can be a lifelong pursuit that will continue to improve and develop our physical fitness throughout our lives. The changing conditions will continue to challenge us and allow us to not be bored with movement, as is often the case with other forms of exercise.