Don’t use the heat as a reason to sit on the couch all summer. Make the most of the blistering summer sun with these nine fitness activities that can both heat you up and cool you down.
1. Stand up paddleboard yoga
Yoga is a lot more playful when a broken pose lands you in the water. Stand up paddleboard yoga takes balance and posture to a whole new level when you’re holding your poses on a floating board in the middle of a lake.
2. Ice skating
There’s absolutely no reason why ice skating should be limited to the winter. In fact, lacing up at an indoor rink during the summer makes a helluva lot more sense than doing so when it’s frigid outside.
3. Nighttime geocaching
Ever heard of geocaching? It’s like a grown up version of hide-and-go-seek, where participants use GPS coordinates to find a hidden object out in the wilderness. If you’re looking for a workout, opt for nighttime geocaching by foot rather than by car. The activity can be a lot trickier when it’s dark outside — but summer heat gives participants the perfect excuse to avoid the sun in favor of fireflies and warm sunsets.
4. Community drumming circles
With community drumming classes like POUND, you can live the famous song lyrics, “I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on the drum all day.” These drumming classes are full-fledged workouts, and all those wildly flailing arms and legs are likely to generate a nice summer breeze to cool you down. Even if you can’t make it to a studio-based class, you can do the moves anywhere — on your patio, by the lake or even at a stopping point on your morning jog.
5. Mud runs
Channel your inner piggy by wallowing in mud this summer. A mud run — especially a beginner one like Pretty Muddy — is a great chance to run, play and cool down efficiently. Once you’ve completed the course, relish in the delight of rinsing off with an ice-cold outdoor shower.
6. Underwater treadmills
Although underwater treadmills are traditionally a component of physical therapy after an injury, we say “why not?” to the idea of using them for summer fitness. The low impact exercise can reduce the inherent risk of injury or overheating during the hot summer months.
7. Trapeze classes
This summer, enjoy beautiful outdoor weather while flying on a trapeze like a bird. The heat can’t possibly get you down while you’re participating in aerial training classes, like those offered at Skyline Trapeze in Dallas. Plus, with all that windflow, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel warm at all.
8. Sand volleyball
Ditch the gym and hit the sand for a seriously-challenging resistance workout. Anytime you have to run, jump, roll and dive on the court, your glutes will do battle against the natural resistance of sand. Plus, it’s super fun and you can wear a bikini.
9. Water biking
Summer water sports like kayaking and windsurfing can be a bummer for beginners. Not so with water biking. Hopping onto a water bike and riding out onto a lake or river is as easy as riding a real bicycle — only you’ll be churning through wakes rather than stuck on land like a chump baking in the heat.
Now, get out there and take on that harsh summer sun. Your body will thank you for feeding it with fitness rather than a Slurpee.
More about health and fitness
Common health myths you probably believe
New skin cancer threat: Manicures
Fitness with Cassey Ho: 6 Toning moves to get bikini-ready
Leave a Comment