If you've developed a fitness habit that is compatible with your work schedule, good for you! It means you are getting consistent exercise 5 days a week. On the weekends, you can still be physically fit, but try swapping gym time or training time for fun, healthy activities. Finding enjoyable ways to be active is a great way to make the most of your weekend having fun and bonding with friends and family. And changing your physical routine actually boosts your all-around fitness, by working different muscle groups at different rates and intensity levels than your habitual workout.
Go outside
Every time of year, there are fun ways to take your fitness outdoors. Being outside boosts your health and mood by exposing your skin to the sun, and helps you feel more connected to nature and your community. Here are some great ways to get outside all year long:
- Swimming: swimming is a low-impact, full-body workout, that can be done indoors or outdoors, all year long.
- Hiking: hiking not only elevates your heart rate and boosts cardiovascular fitness, but can be combined with nature photography, birdwatching, or family outings.
- Cycling: cycling is great for your heart and lungs, and is a fantastic way to explore your surroundings. Get to know your region better by experiencing it first-hand.
- Skating: roller skating, inline skating, ice skating: skating is a great lower-body workout for muscles that are often underutilized in a traditional leg routine. Indoors or outdoors, skating is a fun low-impact exercise
- Skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding: snow sports are high in fun and excitement, and can also be an intense, full-body, cross training workout. These activities are particularly good for your core and stabilizing muscles, but are so fun that you may not even notice.
Learn something new
Combining physical activity with the mental workout of learning is great for body and mind. Learning or practicing new activities boosts memory and cognitive function, and helps prevent mental decline with age.
- Dance: almost every community has a rich offering of dance classes, from salsa or line dancing, ballroom dancing to pole dancing. Or just hit the club and do your own thing. Dancing strengthens the mind-body connection, improving mental control and physical precision.
- Trampoline gym: trampoline gyms are popping up everywhere, and they are a fantastic weekend activity. These fun and playful workouts add versatility and overall fitness.
- Go to a climbing gym: most communities now have climbing gyms or facilities, and they offer intense mental and upper body workouts.
- Fight: Boxing is one of the best full body, high-intensity workouts there is, but even something as gentle as a Tai Chi class will leverage strength with purpose, teaching mental discipline and body control.
Make it social
Get your crew together for a weekly game, or join an existing group and make your workouts fun and social. Social activities are great for fitness and your mental wellbeing, and it's easy to find people to share a game with.
- Paintball: paintball is both fun and physical. The unpredictable nature of the activity keeps your mind and body alert and explosive.
- Team sports: tennis, soccer, basketball, dodgeball: team sports are so enjoyable that many people play them for life, ensuring long-term fitness and health. They boost hand-eye coordination, mental sharpness, and mood.
- Golf: golfing is a moderate-intensity activity that lets you get outdoors and appreciate nature. The long game play elevates cardiovascular fitness and overall health.
Have an outing
There are a hundred fun activities that you can do on a weekend, alone or with family and friends, that don't require much effort or expense.
- Farmer's market: shopping at a farmer's market is fun and moderately active, along with the added bonus of being better for your community and the environment than shopping at a grocery store.
- Visit the zoo: the zoo is so much fun you barely notice all that walking.
- Act like a tourist: if you are like most people, your city is full of tourist sights and activities that you never do, and have perhaps never done. Act like a tourist for a day, visiting the museums, monuments, and historic sites in your community. It's fun and active, and you might even learn something new.
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