By Joli Guenther, MSSW, NASM
Spring is here! With great weather and more daylight, nothing beats heading out for a run or hike in the fresh air. Outdoor workouts provide mood lifting benefits and if you have any plans for competing outdoors this year, you've got to do some outdoor training. However, before you let your fitness equipment gather dust this spring, let's talk about how it can make your outdoor workouts even better.
Reduce Potential Injury: If you've spent all winter indoors, the impact of heading outdoors for a run or hike can be a big shock to your body. Maintaining indoor workouts on your treadmill or elliptical gives you a lower impact option to continue to train in a way that uses the same muscles and fitness level of running outdoors, while providing your body with a break from the impact.
Accessibility: While nothing beats a beautiful spring day, we all know that the weather can be unpredictable at this time of year. With planned indoor workouts you can maintain enough flexibility to enjoy the outdoors when the weather and your schedule permits, while taking advantage of the convenience of your fitness equipment to continue your training when long days and bad weather get in the way.
Comfort: Your Horizon Fitness equipment comes loaded with features that make your workouts more comfortable and enjoyable. With Sonic Surround speakers, MP3 input, and CoolFit fans, you can relax and enjoy working out to your most motivating music, without the worry of distracting yourself on a busy (or deserted) street.
Better Results Faster: With a controlled training environment, indoor workouts give you a way of measuring your progress from week to week. Many Horizon products offer an advanced Goal Center and Nike + iPod compatibility, allowing you to upload heart rate and workout data on-line. The multiple programs and resistance levels integrated into most equipment provide motivation and greater challenges to bring you faster results, whether your goals are improved performance or weight loss.
Weigh In: We'd love to hear from you, are you using your Horizon fitness equipment to complement your outdoor workouts this spring?