Whether you like to burn your sweat to remain fit, reach your goals or simply use it as a de-stressor, it’s imperative to add some form of physical activity into our daily lives. Given our sedentary lifestyle, it is more important than ever to find a form of fitness you enjoy. And if you’re not someone who enjoys the gym fret not, because there is a range of exercises that work the same magic as the gym, in a form you may enjoy more. Here is a round-up of the best fitness alternatives if you’re not a fan of the gym.
Pole fitness
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Inspired by the dance form, pole dancing, pole fitness is an emerging form of fitness that works as a great alternative to working out in a gym. A bodyweight form of training, it requires immense upper body and core strength that can often help build more muscle and strengthen smaller muscle groups. Pole fitness is a lot harder than it looks. It works on making you leaner and toned and requires a lot of core and upper body strength.
It’s time to go down memory lane. Jumping on trampolines isn’t just for kids, rather it’s an emerging form of work out, and a great fitness alternative for gyms. Whether you wish to tone your back, abs, butt, tights, or calves, it’s time to let loose and have some fun. Being a great cardio workout, it can amp up your calorie burn immensely, boost your cardiovascular health, improve endurance, and relieve stress and tension. They can help you develop better balance, coordination, and motor skills. These exercises target your back, core, and leg muscles.
Inspired by ballet, this is a form of physical activity all dance enthusiasts will love. If you are inclined towards dance-inspired workouts, then it’s time to raise the fitness bar with this new form of exercise – barre. Barre was created in 1956, by Lotte Berk, a former ballerina and dance teacher, in London in 1959. After injuring her back, Berk got the idea of combining her ballet barre routines with rehabilitative therapy to form an exercise system. Although the fitness regimen still remains niche, its audience in the country is growing word-of-mouth. While some believe this to be a low-intensity form of workout – that is incorrect. It is a high-intensity low-impact workout and the intensity can be scaled up depending on your fitness level. Working with light weights and resistance helps tone and shape your full body.
You may have often seen acrobats perform various stunts while hanging on cloth hammocks. This new form of exercise is similar to that, often referred to as aerial yoga. Over the years, yoga is becoming an extremely popular form of exercise and one of the best fitness alternatives to an old-school gym. Aerial yoga is a hybrid form of yoga combining traditional yoga poses, pilates, and dance with the use of a hammock. It helps to decompress the spine, increases core strength and balance, and provides the action of pulling, a movement that is lacking in the traditional yoga practice. Further, the purpose of using soft fabric is to help you to improve flexibility and mobility.
For those who love adventure, rock climbing is the perfect way to spend a weekend. One of the best fitness alternatives to a gym, it not only is fun but also works your entire body and tests your strength. Further contrary to exercises in the gym, it works on flexibility and helps improve mobility by ensuring you move your body in different directions. For an added challenge you can even opt for the tougher climbs.
Looking for a fun activity to indulge in after a hectic work day? Then hula hooping is one of the best fitness alternatives to the gym. Taking you back to childhood, hula hooping is a safe and fun way to burn calories and body fat, improve your balance, strengthen your core muscles, and boost your cardiovascular fitness. And the best part? It’s inexpensive and easy to start, and you can do it anywhere
Although it’s not a new form of exercise, it’s a great fitness alternative for the gym. The main focus behind pilates is using body weight and resistance to tone multiple muscle groups — and not necessarily only the bigger muscles. One of the key benefits of pilates is that it opens out your body and works on smaller muscle groups that are often neglected by helping tremendously with movement and fitness.
