Hi Everyone!
I thought it would be nice, since summer will be here very soon, to think of fun, active, not-realizing-you're-losing-weight, great activities for this summer. I know I would always like some new ideas!
Here are mine:
-walking
-jogging
-rollerblading
-swimming
-weight lifting
-aerobics classes
-playing on a playground
-hiking
-beach volleyball
-tennis
Ultimate Frisbee, and Frisbee Golf!!! Those are two of my favorites around here! Along with water tubing and water skiing, softball, baseball, soccer....the list could go on and on and on.....
Look up rowing club in your area. Pretty much every metropolitan area (sp.) has one. Actually national learn to row day is in June. Summer time is perfect to go out there and learn. There's nothing like starting your day off watching the sunrise on glasslike water while getting a good workout in too!
Yah, I'm a rower who feels her sport isn't acknowledged enough!
rowing is a lot of fun.... i tried out for my school's rowing team four years ago but didn't make it. oh well i love canoeing too! though my favorite active summer thing to do is hiking..... So beautiful and quiet. Camping itself can be pretty labor-intensive, if you have to pitch your tent, hike to your campsite, etc.
I'm taking surfing lessons this summer
Other fun things....
kayaking
tennis
rock climbing
Yes, I hate to be indoors in the summer, so I have to find fun things to do outside!
I actually had a lot of fun this weekend playing the farmhand... I did some maintenance on our orchard, and planted a big garden (like... 5 feet by 10 feet). I've got corn, yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes in so far, but I'm definitely going to plant some carrots and sweet peppers soon.... It's amazing the amount of work that goes into an activity like gardening!
gardening's fantastic - i spent a weekend moving plants about and building a small rock wall last month and was sorer the next day than i ever have been after the gym!
britomart- that sounds so very relaxing! I have also never had a home-garden carrot that wasn't sweet and amazing. I would kill to be a on a farm for the summer.
I love gardening as well. This year I am focusing on herbs. I have the usuals- chive, basil, etc... I'm also working on lavender. It's growing very very slowly, but it's doing well. Even thought he sprouts are less than an inch so far, they are very aromatic when you pinch them!
We hit the hiking trails pretty hard last summer, so I imagine we'll be at it again. I would like to get #3 and 4 of the Colorado 14-ers this summer. #1 and 2 were hard enough.... I'm also a water person and have 3 rafting trips set up so far. Nothing too wild, but it's nice to get out on a float trip now and again. Other than that, I'm hoping to just bike around town a bit and play some frisbee. When I got into really dropping the weight, I would go up to Red Rocks to hike and run stairs- I need to get up there soon. Stephanie Williams- you up for a challenge? :P
Even though I am bad at it - GOLF. Its so nice to go out into the beautiful courses and be surrounded by birds and sun and breeze. Also no one realizes it is exercise so I can get my husband and friends to do it with me, I just opt for carrying my clubs instead of pulling them and walking instead of using a cart!
Have you tried DragonBoating? We have a festival up here in Montreal every summer for which we train two or three times a week pretty intensively. Everyone joins in from College students to Breast cancer survivors to newbies. It's a pretty tough workout and at the same time it puts you in part of a group of other pretty interesting people.
Right now, I'm loving paddleboating and canoeing - especially canoeing! Find a lake nearby that rents boats (I'm lucky enough to have one just 20 min from my house), its not too terribly expensive, and you get to work your legs (paddleboating) or your arms (canoeing) while having fun and enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather outside. We've gone the past two weekends - paddleboating two weeks ago, and canoeing last week.
I consider it training for my white water rafting excursion on July 2nd.
Also, find some gorgeous hiking trails nearby and get out there! We have one that I just found that goes about 2 miles on a slight incline to the most beautiful waterfall - such a find! Hiking always feels more like fun than exercise to me...although this ventures very close into, as my partner says, "exercise for recreation", which she used to mock...still, it IS fun.
Fun active summer ideas
i love canoeing too! though my favorite active summer thing to do is hiking..... So beautiful and quiet. Camping itself can be pretty labor-intensive, if you have to pitch your tent, hike to your campsite, etc.
