5 summer activities that don’t feel like exercise

Who says exercise needs to feel like exercise? With bright blue skies and greenery blooming all over, summer brings with it even more opportunities to get outside and move. Sure, it can be tempting to ditch the routine and laze around the pool having cocktails.

However, once you check out the following summer activities, there’ll be no holding you back from warm-weather endorphin-boosting workouts. And that’s because you won’t even see them as workouts — precisely the reason why they’re so great!

Summer activities that don’t feel like working out

1 – Hiking

Whether you’re taking a chilled stroll or trekking to the top of a mountain, hitting the trail in the summer can do wonders for your mind and body. It’s also an exercise you can perform with friends or even your dog. That, plus the wonderful natural views, will help take your mind off any thoughts of working out. What’s more, you can do a different hike every other day – from exploring your local wilderness to heading further out. Simply enter a location into apps such as AllTrails to discover walks of various difficulties, lengths, and suitabilities.

2 – Biking

Sure there are bikes in gyms, but they’re stuck to the ground and indoors. Riding a bike while on vacation is a fun way to relax and explore the sights of new places and an effective way to exercise without even realising it. Plus, they’re easy to find: bike rentals are fully available in almost every tourist destination, making them a great way to spend time with friends and family too. 

3 – Swimming and watersports

From lakes to beaches to pools, there’s nothing like making a splash in the summer. A study by the University of Essex found that outdoor exercise boosted mental and physical wellness. Plus, the presence of water brings even more positivity and self-esteem into the mix. Water sports such as paddle boarding and surfing are entertaining. And while you working with the waves will help burn more calories, it will also distract you from thinking about the fact you’re actually working out.

4 – Outdoor sports

Almost every tourist destination has areas dedicated to outdoor sports. Basketball and tennis courts, beach volleyball or even football in the park, summer offers you plenty of chances to do high-intensity sports and burn off some extra calories with a social element, making it easier to lose yourself and forget you’re actually getting fit at the same time.

5 – Yoga

At the beach or in your own backyard, the beauty of yoga is that it can be done anywhere. And finding your flow state is even better when practising yoga outdoors in the summer. Trees, grass, flowers, the ocean – being in nature helps increase wakeful relaxation, restore energy and bring about internal focus, all of which melt away stress and boost your mood. When you’re saluting the sun under the actual rays, or rooting yourself into a tree pose while centring your sights on a real tree, you bring a new kind of power to your practice – one you’ll never want to end.

We highly encourage outdoor physical summer activities but you can’t exercise in the wild all the time. That’s why EVO training zones were designed to recreate the playful and progressive training environments of the great outdoors — for bodies to move the way they’re meant to.