Outdoor fitness consists of exercise undertaken outside a building for the purpose of improving physical fitness. It contrasts with exercise undertaken inside a gym or health club for the same purpose. The activity may be undertaken in a park, in the wilderness, or other outdoor location. The popularity of outdoor fitness grew rapidly in the second-half of the twentieth century and grew as a commercial consumer market in the twenty-first century.
In nineteenth-century Germany, Turnplatz, an outdoor space for gymnastics, were promoted by German educator Friedrich Jahn and the Turners, a political and gymnastic movement. [1] After the Second World War, as people did less exercise in their daily and work lives, individualistic, health-oriented physical and recreational activities such as jogging began to prevail. [2] The Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans, developed by Dr. Bill Orban and published in 1961, and Kenneth Cooper's book "Aerobics" (1968) and mass-market version "The New Aerobics" (1979) helped to launch modern fitness culture. [3] [4] [5] [6] There was a running boom in the 1970s and outdoor fitness trails were developed in the USA and Europe. However, most of the growth in the fitness industry was through indoor gyms and health clubs. [7] [8]
Outdoor fitness boot camps developed in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1990s and Canada in 2001. [9] In the twenty-first century, outdoor fitness grew as a commercial consumer market. Outdoor group fitness classes led by a personal trainer or a fitness professional became a popular form of outdoor exercise. [10] [11] A variety of training courses for fitness professionals and certifications for companies specialising in outdoor fitness developed. [12] [13] [14] Outdoor fitness can be studied as a specialism of exercise physiology. [15] The trend towards outdoor fitness led to a proliferation of outdoor gyms. [16] [17]
Growing participation was seen in organized events that expanded internationally such as Parkruns, Tough Mudder and Be Military Fit and sports such as triathlon and cycling. Street workouts have also become a popular outdoor fitness activity is some countries, with a world championship taking place since 2011. [18] In recent years, more and schools have discovered the outdoors as a medium for education. Lakes, valleys and mountains are used for specific academic instruction in the realm of science and biology. [19]
A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing meaningful feedback, and by being a reliable source for accountability. Trainers also conduct a variety of assessments beginning with a preparticipation health-screening and may also include assessments of posture and movement, flexibility, balance, core function, cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular fitness, body composition, and skill-related parameters to observe and gather relevant information needed to develop an effective exercise program and support client goal attainment.
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness. It is usually performed to music and may be practiced in a group setting led by an instructor. With the goal of preventing illness and promoting physical fitness, practitioners perform various routines. Formal aerobics classes are divided into different levels of intensity and complexity and will have five components: warm-up, cardiovascular conditioning, muscular strength and conditioning, cool-down and stretching and flexibility. Aerobics classes may allow participants to select their level of participation according to their fitness level. Many gyms offer different types of aerobic classes. Each class is designed for a certain level of experience and taught by a certified instructor with a specialty area related to their particular class.
Calisthenics or callisthenics (/ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪk/) is a form of strength training that utilizes an individual's body weight as resistance to perform multi-joint, compound movements with little or no equipment.
Aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, involving, or requiring oxygen", and refers to the use of oxygen to meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism adequately. Aerobic exercise is performed by repeating sequences of light-to-moderate intensity activities for extended periods of time. Examples of cardiovascular or aerobic exercise are medium- to long-distance running or jogging, swimming, cycling, stair climbing and walking.
Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations, and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest along with a formal recovery plan.
Kenneth H. Cooper is a doctor of medicine and former Air Force lieutenant colonel from Oklahoma, who pioneered the benefits of doing aerobic exercise for maintaining and improving health. In 1966 he coined the term, and his book Aerobics was published in 1968, which emphasized a point system for improving the cardiovascular system. The popular mass market version was The New Aerobics (ISBN 0-553-26874-0), published ten years later.
The Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans are two exercise plans developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) by Dr. Bill Orban in the late 1950s, first published in 1961. The 5BX plan was developed for men; a corresponding program was developed for women under the name XBX and the two plans were subsequently published together as one book, which was republished in 2016. The popularity of the programs in many countries around the world helped to launch modern fitness culture.
Step aerobics, also known as bench aerobics and step training, is a form of aerobic exercise that involves stepping on and off a small platform.
Aerobic conditioning is the use of continuous, rhythmic movement of large muscle groups to strengthen the heart and lungs. Improvement in aerobic conditioning occurs when athletes expose themselves to an increase in oxygen uptake and metabolism, but to keep this level of aerobic conditioning, the athletes must keep or progressively increase their training to increase their aerobic conditioning.
Circuit training is a form of body conditioning that involves endurance training, resistance training, high-intensity aerobics, and exercises performed in a circuit, similar to high-intensity interval training. It targets strength building and muscular endurance. An exercise "circuit" is one completion of all set exercises in the program. When one circuit is completed, one begins the first exercise again for the next circuit. Traditionally, the time between exercises in circuit training is short and often with rapid movement to the next exercise.
A health club is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to exercise:
William Robert Orban was a Canadian public servant and academic. He was a "pioneer" in the field of physical fitness, best known for creating the 5BX and XBX programmes in the late 1950s.
CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trademark. The company forms what has been described as the biggest fitness chain in the world, with around 12,000 affiliated gyms in over 150 countries as of 2022, under half of which are located in the United States.
A fitness boot camp is a type of group physical training program that may be conducted by gyms, personal trainers or other organizations. These programs are designed to build strength and fitness through a variety of types of exercise. The activities and format may be loosely modeled on aspects of fitness training used in the military and the trainers themselves may be former military personnel.
Be Military Fit, or BMF, is a private company which runs outdoor group fitness classes in 140 public parks and outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom. The classes are predominantly led by former or serving members of the British Armed Forces.
A gym, short for gymnasium, is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term "gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational institutions. "Gym" is also the commonly used name for a "fitness centre" or health club, which is often an area for indoor recreation. A "gym" may include or describe adjacent open air areas as well. In Western countries, "gyms" often describe places with indoor or outdoor courts for basketball, hockey, tennis, boxing or wrestling, and with equipment and machines used for physical development training, or to do exercises. In many European countries, Gymnasium also can describe a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university, with or without the presence of athletic courts, fields, or equipment.
Street workouts are a physical activity performed in outdoor parks or public facilities. The movement behind street workouts became popular in Russia, Israel, Myanmar, Morocco, Eastern Europe, and the United States, especially in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago,Uzbekistan, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other urban East Coast neighborhoods. It is a combination of athletics, calisthenics, and sports. "Street workout" is a modern name for calisthenics in outdoor parks. There are also street workout teams and organized competitions for exercises such as pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, dips, rows, muscle-ups, sit-ups and squats. A street workout also involves static (isometric) holds such as the human flag, front lever, back lever, L-sit and planche.
Fitness culture is a sociocultural phenomenon surrounding exercise and physical fitness. It is usually associated with gym culture, as doing physical exercises in locations such as gyms, wellness centres and health clubs is a popular activity. An international survey found that more than 27% of the world's total adult population attends fitness centres, and that 61% of regular exercisers are currently doing "gym-type" activities. Getting and maintaining physical fitness has been shown to benefit individuals' inner and outer health. Fitness culture has been highly promoted through modern technology and social media platforms.
Jacki Sorensen is the American originator of aerobic dancing, popularly known as aerobics. Inspired by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's 1968 book on aerobic exercise, she created for women an aerobic dance routine to music in 1969 in Puerto Rico, teaching U.S. Air Force wives. She expanded this concept into a teaching method and studio franchise, Aerobic Dancing Inc., that rose to 1,500 locations and 4,000 instructors teaching 170,000 students in 1981 at its peak.
In fact, the popularity of the Royal Canadian Air Force's calisthenics program in the late 1950s helped launch the modern fitness movement.
The program became famous worldwide.
For many, however, the club was more than a second-best alternative to outdoor exercise. 'Part of the appeal and actual value of a health club, it seems, remarked journalists in Today's Health in 1972, is as much psychological as physical.'