Whether students decide to exercise in a gym by running on the treadmill or outdoors on the dirt path, there are limitations to each environment that the wise fitness devotee is encouraged to acknowledge and embrace.
Owner of Eugene Bootcamp, Guy Urioste believes the outdoors create an alternative playground for a unique fitness regime and utilizes all of nature’s characteristics where there are no boundaries.
“Some of the greatest gym equipment is just sitting out there waiting for us like mountains and trails,” Urioste said.
Additionally, Urioste believes exercising in the outdoors provides a positive attitude for individuals, a feeling that gyms rarely provide.
“If I’m sweating on my treadmill staring at four drab walls and the guy running next to me staring at the same walls, breathing in air conditioning or heating, how positive and motivating can that be?” Urioste said. “But when you climb a mountain and you get to the very top and you’re dripping in sweat and your partner is dripping in sweat but you’re looking at the horizon with the sun coming up, BAM. How positive and how limitless are you? If that’s not healthy for your soul, I don’t know what is.”
While outdoor fitness training enables one to enjoy nature with ever-changing sceneries, it still has its uncontrollable limitations, especially in Eugene. The unpredictable Oregon rain, in addition to heat, potholes, uneven pavements and ice, may alter the effectiveness of the workout experience, even to preferred outdoor athletes like Leslie Johnson.
University of Oregon student and high school varsity cross-country and track athlete, Johnson believes the Eugene weather plays a major role when she runs outdoors. When training for the Eugene half marathon last spring, Johnson encountered the inevitable restrictive weather.
“It was so cold out and half way through our seven mile run, hail the size of my thumb nail started pelting me and it hurt so bad,” Johnson said.
Unlike Johnson’s preference of steady weather conditions, Urioste believes that weather should not hold individuals back from working out in the outdoors and should push them even further.
“If it’s raining, take the time to go play. Go run in the rain like we did when we were kids,” Urioste said. “Once people learn to work out in the rain and enjoy it, it feels refreshing and it feels like you’ve really achieved something. They get that sense of accomplishment and we (Eugene Bootcamp) push that sense of accomplishment.”
Compared to these difficulties present in the outdoors, indoor facilities provide stable and reliable environments.
According to the FitDay article “Gym vs. Outdoor Fitness Training: The Pros and Cons,” “The benefits of many health clubs lie in the abundance of fitness classes and tailored training they offer, from yoga and pilates, to strength classes and myriad cardio dance combo sessions.”
With benefits and disadvantages available in outdoor and indoor fitness, preference and balance are vital to choosing which is suitable for individuals. Thirty-two-year-old Eugene Bootcamp member Dawn Fisher has found enjoyment in the outdoors but still reverts back to the gym on occasion.
“I like both and it depends on the situation. If I’m on my own, I think I prefer indoors. That way I can zone in on what I’m doing. However, doing stuff outdoors is awesome. I like the group workout and the various weather we have experienced,” Fisher said.
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