Staying fit through the summer – Do you still need your regular workouts?

Spring is here, and summer is in the air; the days are getting longer and the night is full of the sound of chirping frogs (my absolute favourite thing to fall asleep to). We now have the opportunity to enjoy more outdoor activities like golf, hiking, biking, tennis, etc.

What I want to remind everyone of is the difference between activity and exercise. Just because we become more active during the summer months doesn’t mean that those activities can replace proper exercise, namely, resistance training.

Don’t get me wrong, activity has plenty of health benefits, and we should aim to have some level activity every day.

Exercise on the other hand, by definition, is hard, dedicated work on all of the major muscle groups in your body, leaving them significantly fatigued at the end of a workout. This workout will illicit significant positive changes that improve both your fitness and your health.

Keeping up your resistance training during the summer weeks (as little as one hard session every 7 days) will keep your fitness levels at their peak, improving performance in whatever activity you like to do. It will also help to prevent injuries during your activities; and dramatically improve and sustain your strength and stamina.

We encourage everyone to keep up this practice in spite of the nice weather for the reasons stated above. The biggest challenge of course is fitting it in amongst the other things atop your schedule. This challenge is not so daunting when you stop to consider that you really only need to dedicate 20-60 minutes per week to it. Even one 20-minute session can help you to maintain your strength and stamina that you’ve already worked so hard to obtain over the winter months.

Spring is here, and summer is in the air; the days are getting longer and the night is full of the sound of chirping frogs (my absolute favourite thing to fall asleep to). We now have the opportunity to enjoy more outdoor activities like golf, hiking, biking, tennis, etc.

What I want to remind everyone of is the difference between activity and exercise. Just because we become more active during the summer months doesn’t mean that those activities can replace proper exercise, namely, resistance training.

Don’t get me wrong, activity has plenty of health benefits, and we should aim to have some level activity every day.

Exercise on the other hand, by definition, is hard, dedicated work on all of the major muscle groups in your body, leaving them significantly fatigued at the end of a workout. This workout will illicit significant positive changes that improve both your fitness and your health.

Keeping up your resistance training during the summer weeks (as little as one hard session every 7 days) will keep your fitness levels at their peak, improving performance in whatever activity you like to do. It will also help to prevent injuries during your activities; and dramatically improve and sustain your strength and stamina.

We encourage everyone to keep up this practice in spite of the nice weather for the reasons stated above. The biggest challenge of course is fitting it in amongst the other things atop your schedule. This challenge is not so daunting when you stop to consider that you really only need to dedicate 20-60 minutes per week to it. Even one 20-minute session can help you to maintain your strength and stamina that you’ve already worked so hard to obtain over the winter months.