Can you easily smash out 10 miles on an outdoor ride but struggle to do that distance on an indoor bike? You’re not alone. Many of us find exercise outdoors easier.

One study found that participants walk faster outdoors compared to indoors when self-selecting walking speed. They also, paradoxically, perceived the faster walking outside to be easier. Whether that was due to the distraction of nature/how gyms can be less exciting, or something in our natural makeup, we’ll take it!

The ease of exercising outside may also be related to the colour green. One study investigated the impact
of colour in a video shown to participants virtually cycling. There were 3 videos:

- Unedited video of predominantly green foliage

- Same video with a red filter

- Same video with no colour

Participants spent 5 minutes cycling to each video. While
watching the unedited video, they perceived cycling to be easier and were in a better mood.

Maybe nature will take the edge off your workouts, too? Try comparing an indoor cycle, run, or even a yoga routine to an outdoor one and see if you find the outdoor one easier.

Ever come back from a walk or cycle ride feeling like a new
person? Getting out and about can certainly give us a new perspective on things and help us regulate our emotions. Pair that with exercise endorphins and it’s no wonder a lot of us turn to outdoor exercise when we’re in the trenches.

A systematic review of studies comparing indoor and outdoor
activity found that doing things in ‘natural’ or ‘green’ environments caused people to feel more positive and revitalised. Green exercise activities improved self-esteem and decreased negative moods like anger, stress and sadness.

Vitamin D helps keep our bones, teeth and muscles healthy and can help keep depression at bay.

In a country as sun-deprived as the UK, you’ve got to be keeping an eye on your vitamin D levels if you want to stay healthy. You make vitamin D aka the sunshine vitamin when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Exercising outside can help you get enough vitamin D, especially in the spring and summer months.

In the winter however, it can be tough to get enough
sunlight on your skin to produce enough. Help your body out by eating vitamin D-rich foods like oily fish, egg yolk and milk. You can also find vitamin D in some fortified margarines, breakfast cereals and yoghurts.

Now, we’re not trying to slander the gym here, but it can get a little boring staring at the same 4 walls while you work out, right? And getting stuck in a routine rut can seriously stifle your workouts. Compare this to exercising outdoors where the terrain, route, weather, etc. offers endless change, and some would argue that exercising outdoors gives you a better – or at least a more varied – exercise session.

This is especially true with cycling – you just can’t replicate outdoor terrain indoors. Plus, you can simply hop off the saddle of an indoor bike and end a workout early, whilst you wouldn’t necessarily be able to do that outdoors, e.g., if you’re miles away from where you need to get to. A regular change of scenery and the desire to get home are the perfect motivators.

No more being dictated to by gym opening times; you can exercise outdoors whenever you want! We love a spontaneous sesh and a quick rally around our friends to see who's ready to leave the house and get outside. Once you accept that any time can be exercise time, you give yourself more opportunities to do so.

Thankfully, you don’t need to set up a direct debit to exercise outside. Plus, seeing exercise as something you just do for the fun of it rather than something you must pay to do could help you develop a better relationship with it.

Cycling around the city with a friend or meeting your family for a countryside ride is also a free (and fun!) way to connect with the people you love.

With all that gym membership money saved, you can invest in your chosen sport or activity instead, e.g., getting some new cycling gear to see you through outdoor rides in any season. Check out our LUCA Cycling
Apparel.