The season of spring is the season of renewal and as the clocks go forward, thoughts turn to spending more time outdoors. For many, this signals the beginning of the outdoor training season. Of course, among the hard-core crowd this season never really ends but for the fair weather warriors the thought of taking their activities outdoors during the cold, dark winter months just isn’t on the agenda. If winter is the season of the turbo-trainer, the treadmill and of strength work, then spring signals the start of the hill hiking, road racing and outdoor activity season.

Training in the great outdoors has many benefits, changing terrain offers up more of a diverse challenge than a predictable simulated surface, the sun’s rays provide nourishing vitamin D, the fresh air is good for the lungs and the green scenery has numerous positive effects on mental health. We shouldn’t however feel guilty when forgoing outdoor training when the weather turns however. The convenience of indoor training means that we’re less likely to skip sessions due to adverse weather and can provide a safer alternative if you like to train early or late when daylight is scarce. Additionally, it’s often much easier to access a variety of kit in an indoor setting like a conventional gym meaning workouts can be more diverse.

Most people do well focusing on a mixture of strength work in the form of resistance training coupled with bouts of cardiovascular work. Both can take many forms however cardiovascular work tends to lend itself well to outdoor based endeavours such as walking, running or cycling. Strength work however is usually best performed in indoor settings as the use of barbells, dumbbells or machines is good practice and best facilitates progression. Considering this, many will do well to move their cardiovascular efforts into the great outdoors as the weather improves but shouldn’t be so hasty to cancel their gym membership altogether. We know all too well that consistent resistance work brings a myriad of health boosting adaptations and chief among them is its ability to build and maintain muscle tissue and strength thus stabilising joints and ensuring optimal biomechanics can be maintained during bouts of cardio. In short strength work can prevent injury occurring while performing cardiovascular based activities.

Within fitness there’s an often thrown about saying that states “whatever you aren’t doing is likely what you should be doing more of” and this makes a lot of sense when we consider that many people have a strong preference for the type of exercise they perform. Enjoyment is a key ingredient in adherence and adherence is the first real principle of exercise, without consistency, progress cannot occur. The data is clear however in stating that individuals who adhere to both strength training and cardiovascular work of some type reap more overall health benefits than just one or the other so in truth we often must overwrite this predetermined preference and find a way for the two to coexist, that is if improved health and wellbeing are on our list of desired outcomes.