Why You Should Exercise Outside Rather Than Inside?
Growing up in the English countryside I lived a very sheltered lifestyle where all my needs were met close by. I could enjoy being active outside without any safety concerns, whether it be cycling to and from the local shop, or playing soccer in the park with the local children. During my childhood the most vivid memory I have seeing people being active outside, was running on the roads, or in the hills and the large groups of cycling on the country lanes. As I grew older I began to do the same, going on bike rides with my dad and running with my sister. Moving from my sheltered lifestyle in rural England to the hustle and bustle of Austin, Texas, United States, to study at the university of Texas. I was pleasantly surprised to the amount of space the city had to offer. On the contrary, times are changing more than half the population lives in urban environments; cities are getting denser then ever and will only get denser. Leading to the question is the environment actually good enough to be working out in? Do cities provide a safe outdoor space for people to workout in? Or do people prefer to workout indoors? Therefore, I am going to explore the benefits to exercising outside.
Firstly, there are reasonable reasons as to why people prefer working out inside when they live in urban areas. In general many of the developed world cities are packed with high-rise industrial buildings and little amount of green open space. This means for those who want to exercise outside they are limited on options. Indoor facilities can be a perfect location to get a workout in if you do not feel safe outside; there isn’t enough room to workout outside and to be in a controlled environment where weather and lighting does not become an issue. Another factor is the amount of time we have available to actually exercise. In the United States the average hours one works in a week is just shy of 50 hours, meaning unless you have the accessibility to workout a short distance from your house it can be difficult to fit everything in. Adding to this exercise has proven to ‘help increase performance within high demanding office jobs’ as it works as a stress relief. Therefore, the market for inside gym facilities in towns and cities has increased rapidly. These facilities are placed in close proximity to large apartment complexes/ inside apartment buildings; close to the inner city central business district, allowing for a short commute between, work, exercise, leisure and home. Research has shown that ‘young highly educated households tend to move towards places with higher quality of business environments’. Suggesting that the more business like amenities an area has, the more people will like an area, but that usually means having more buildings and less open space.
One of societies main concerns with working out alone in public is safety. On a regular basis you hear stories of people getting attacked whilst being active outside doing their own thing. Much of these reports come from those who are outside either late at night or early in the morning when the sun is not up yet. Therefore as mentioned previously, in this situation indoor gyms may be more of a safer option early in the mornings. Alternatively, city councils could add more safety to their streets, such as cameras and lights. In Austin, Texas after a string of attacks had been reported on women along the Town Lake trail during the early hours of the morning; the city had an increase in safety units working along the trail to help the public feel safer.
On another note, a requirement for people to exercise outside is dependant on how much space is actually available. This varies with the type of activity you are doing and can range from a small green area to do a circuit or play a ball game to safe trails or bike lanes to cycle and run. For example in areas of downtown New York people are put off by the busy streets and narrow sidewalks not allowing for a stress free workout. Research has shown that ‘land-use and transportation decisions can facilitate or obstruct the creation and maintenance of healthy communities.’ On the other hand, in the worlds 3rd healthiest city of Copenhagen, people freely cycle and go for runs, as there is little safety concerns. As a society we prefer to live in an environment with clean air and the same goes for working out. In places such as shanghai the pollutant levels from traffic, industry plants, etc., is so high that it is already taking years off people’s life. Thus, working out inside for people who live in areas of increased pollutant levels maybe the smarter option.
On the other hand, being active outside has shown to have many benefits. Not only does it improve physical wellbeing but also mental health. Research shows that ‘compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments was associated with greater feelings of revitalisation and positive engagement, decreases in tension, confusion, anger, and depression, and increased energy’.
From personal experience I much prefer doing exercise outside rather than inside. As I prefer being ‘out in the fresh air’, feeling much more freer to do things, not restricting myself to a machine in the gym. I will always chose running outside rather than on a treadmill or elliptical, or go on a bike ride rather than siting on a stationary bike. Around Austin I enjoy being out on the trail as other individuals who are also soaking up the outdoors motivate me. The greenbelt in Austin is not far from central Austin, many people go there to enjoy being outside with friends and family, myself included. Being in a gym I dislike being in the same space all the time, especially if it is in a dark room with no windows — this is not motivating what so ever. Additionally, the weather does not faze me as long as I’m not going to injure myself or be any danger. For instance I will not cycle if there is black ice on the roads.
Another benefit to getting your daily workout in outside is the cost, it is much cheaper to play a ball sport in an open green space than it is to book an indoor sports hall. Likewise in less socio — economic neighbourhoods there is less access to gym facilities as people are less able to afford it. Thus more people are active outside compared with inside as local councils have basketball hoops set up so they have some variety in what they are playing. It has shown that ‘Leisure activities play a very important role in subjective well-being because they provide opportunities to meet life values and needs’ as they help build social relationships and knowledge therefore improving overall quality of life.
In conclusion if cities are able to provide more open space for people to workout in such as doing a circuit in the park;or more bike lanes so people can bike to and from work; or trails to go waking or cycling I think more people would exercise outside. However, this is a hard task for cities as we see the continual increase in people moving to cities. Therefore a decrease in open spaces as an increase in the amount of building comes with an increase in people, providing places to live, new jobs, retail and leisure facilities.
….
J. Thompson Coon and K. Boddy 2011 ‘Does Participating in Physical Activity in Outdoor Natural Environments Have a Greater Effect on Physical and Mental Wellbeing than Physical Activity Indoors? A Systematic Review’. Peer Reviewed. Retrieved from: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es102947t
Andrew L. Dannenberg 2011 ‘The Impact of Community Design and Land-Use Choices on Public Health: A Scientific Research Agenda.’ Peer Reviewed. Retrieved from: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1500
Brajša-Žganec, M. Merkaš, I. Šverko 2010 ‘Quality of Life and Leisure Activities: How do Leisure Activities Contribute to Subjective Well-Being?’ Peer Reviewed. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11205-010-9724-2
T. Smedley. 2012 ‘The worlds top five healthiest cities?’ Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/top-five-world-healthiest-cities-health-wellbeing
C. Isidore and T.Luhby. 2015 ‘Turns out Americans work really hard…but some want to work harder.’ Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/09/news/economy/americans-work-bush/index.html
Y. Chen and S. Stuart November 2008. ‘Local amenities and life — cycle migration: Do people move for jobs or fun?’ Journal Of Urban Economics. vol 64. Issue 64. Peer reviewed. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119008000569
S. Lyubomirsky. S. King. L. Diener 2005. ‘The Benefits Of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead To Success?’ Peer Reviewed. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803
J.Cheser. August 2014. Charlotte and Raleigh top U.N. list of fastest growing large U.S. cities. Image. Retrieved from: https://ui.uncc.edu/story/charlotte-and-raleigh-are-fastest-growing-large-cities-un-projections.
Austins growth. 2009 Image. Retrieved form: http://www.city-data.com/forum/austin/690159-population-growth-austin-tx.html
K. Owen. 2013. ‘Best Places To Run In Austin’ Retrieved From: http://365thingsaustin.com/2013/01/23/best-places-to-run-in-austin-texas/
