You hate the gym. So, what are the alternatives? Do you hate the music in gyms? Perhaps you hate the smell of them. Maybe you just don’t like the machines and they don’t like you.

The gym certainly isn’t beautiful. And, on top of that, no one wants to talk to each other because they are so busy doing exercise. Yes, that is what you are supposed to be doing but still, it seems very cold. It’s all those mirrors too. Everyone is so busy being so narcissistic and it is so de-humanising – loud music, bright lights, functional, high speed. You are in and out of there with no connection to the rest of the human race. The other obvious thing wrong with the gym is that you join up and then don’t go for a whole year. When you finally do go, out of guilt, you spend a wad of cash in accumulated membership fees on one workout. What’s the solution then?

Getting it where you can.

So, what other possibilities are there? Go and exercise outside. You don’t have to be in the midst of glorious countryside for this one. Your local park will do. Use the park benches to stretch, use steps to run up and use lampposts as distance markers. Let your imagination run wild as to what you can use in the environment to help you in your mission (no gym fitness). Set goals – a good one might be count the number of times you run round the park, each time trying to improve on the last. Perhaps you can even take in some wildlife or a pleasant view as you exercise.

Getting some aerobic exercise by running and walking will obviously increase your cardiovascular fitness, and even in the city (away from busy roads) you’ll benefit from breathing ‘fresh’ air into your lungs. Pumping your heart muscle is important to get your lymph system moving – your lymph has no internal pump. The benefit of aerobic exercise is that it is thought to protect you against all sorts of nasty diseases, including some types of cancers and heart disease, plus it makes your bones stronger. So, get out there and do some cardiovascular stuff. Run, jog or walk for at least 20 minutes each day.

Power-walking: Stride out when you walk. Get into it buy loading your iPod up with some seriously good music.

Jump higher: Skipping is a wonderful way to get your ticker really going. Apparently jumping rope has the calorie-burning capacity of jogging for one mile. But you have to really go for it – no weedy jumping allowed.

Warm up and wind down: Don’t forget to stretch at the beginning and end of your workouts. Warm, stretched muscles are muscles that are less likely to be injured.

Here’s another idea for you. Exercising at home is another way to avoid the gym. Why not check out psychocalisthenics, which is a form of exercise that takes just fifteen minutes to do, but revitalises your whole system.

Olivia Winters enjoys bragging about her proffesion. She’s a weight loss specialist and avid food blogger. Whenever she isn’t chasing her kids around she loves to post her favorite food recipes over at HordervesGalore.