Getting fit is a worthy goal, and most people hit the gym to burn those calories. However, if the gym is too tame a place for you, then these three extreme activities will have you burning significant amounts of calories as you get your adrenaline pumping to completely new levels.
Off-Road Motorcycling
Just sitting on a motorcycle may not seem like much of a workout, but the moment you go off-road, you’ll be using major muscle groups to control that motorbike and keep your balance. You’ll be using your arms, legs, hips, lower back muscles, and most of your upper body as you guide your speeding off-road motorcycle into sudden turns and massive jumps. Even your abdominal muscles will get a workout from the constant vibrations and continuous shifting and adjusting just to keep balance.
An hour of off-road biking can burn up to 600 calories, comparable to an extreme gym session or training for competitive swimming. Heavier bikes will burn even more calories, as they are a little bit harder to control. Gear up on safety gear, as the added weight also allows you to burn additional calories.
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing or bouldering is a great workout for the arms and shoulders. Aside from a good upper body workout, rock climbing also trains your flexibility, allowing you to get those tricky footholds to pull yourself up. Climbing involves complex movements. Your body won’t be making repetitive movements that will ultimately lead to diminishing results. Every climbing route is different and different parts of your body will need to be engaged to overcome various obstacles.
Rock climbing can burn from 500 to 900 calories per hour. Actual rock climbing will usually burn higher amounts, but you can tailor the difficulty (and safety) of your workout by going to an indoor rock climbing gym. These gyms will usually have walls with varying degrees of difficulty to match your fitness and expertise levels.
Scuba Diving
Scuba diving is a great workout, especially for women. It works your glutes, hamstrings, tones your legs and calves, all the while delivering a good abdominal workout. Scuba diving is a low impact activity and may not seem like the type of activity to burn massive amounts of calories. But it does, at almost 600 calories per hour!
One significant factor that affects this caloric burn is being immersed in water. Water disperses body heat at a faster rate than normal. This produces an effect called thermogenesis in the body. Thermogenesis occurs when the body seeks to maintain your core temperature at proper levels, and it burns fat in order to do so. You can aid this fat-burning process by forgoing a wetsuit and just diving in your swimsuit or trunks.
Fitness requires a lot of sweat and a lot of dedication. Continually going to the gym can get a bit boring, so why not add a little excitement to your fitness routine. These three outdoor activities can help you get fit, while also giving you a healthy dose of fun and adrenaline.
