When fitness is fun

I really envy those of you who actually enjoy going to the gym and fitness classes. They say three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic, and despite being a member of my local gym for over a year now, I wouldn’t quite call my frequenting of it a ‘habit’… Today I thought I’d share a few sports I’ve taken part in over the years which are brilliant for burning calories without even realising you are working out. This sort of fitness is the most rewarding for me, when it’s fun too and doesn’t feel like a chore!

1. Surfing

The average person burns around 400 calories an hour while they surf. It’s a great cardiovascular activity that keeps your heart pumping fast for the duration. A big part of surfing includes paddling out before you catch a wave, so you get a good upper body workout too. Once you do catch a wave, your core strength comes into action as you are constantly adjusting for balance. I love being in the water, and the calmness between sets of waves when you’re sitting bobbing in the water on your board is an amazing feeling. I’ve surfed during thunderstorms, sunsets, and in complete darkness. I haven’t been in years now but I would love to get back into it – there are some amazing surf spots in Scotland, which are a bit on the chilly side as you can imagine. But completely and utterly worth it.

2. Motocross

I was 15 when I got into Motocross, so don’t have many photos (one being this absolute cringe with my little sister Tyler posing on the bike, she’s so tiny!) Motocross is a pretty physically demanding sport which requires good all round fitness and stamina. My YZ85 was a small wheel bike, but I could still only put one foot on the ground when stationary. Lugging around this 200lbs plus piece of machinery uses almost every muscle in your body, as you balance and shift your body weight around quickly to navigate the bike over rough terrain, loose ground and often dramatic changes in track elevation. You can burn around 500 calories an hour while riding motocross, and the adrenaline rush is a hard one to beat.

3. Snowboarding

My third and final favourite sport is the one I do most often now, where I can burn up to 600 calories an hour! In Scotland we are blessed with some amazing mountain ranges and perfect conditions almost all season, most only a couple of hours away. During snowboarding you use your quads, hamstrings and calves while steering the board, and your core for balance. It’s also a pretty good upper body workout too as you need to engage your arm and shoulder muscles to maintain balance. I learned pretty quickly that no matter how good you think your balance is, falling on your bum happens ALL THE TIME.

 When I don’t have time to drive up north I head to our local indoor slope in Glasgow, Xscape. I’ve had the same board, boots, trousers and jacket for years now, but I’m looking into buying new ones of each as a little incentive and boost to keep me going more regularly. A girls got to look decent and feel comfy while she’s on the snow! My board is a Salomon Radiant 143, boots are from ThirtyTwo, trousers are by Roxy and my new snowboarding jacket is from Trespass. The jacket was so toasty that I actually ended up too warm, and had to take it off! Will be perfect for on the chilly mountainside though, as the Scottish weather can be pretty unforgiving. I don’t own any proper wet weather gear for work either, so have been wearing this for cold and rainy days filming too. Don’t think I could get away with those waterproof trousers on set though, they look too much like pj’s! Hoping to buy new trousers next as these ones are far too long for me, and hopefully a shiny new board after that. I’m so glad that Leah can snowboard now too, as it’s much more fun doing it with a buddy. Leah if you’re reading this, it’s time for surf lessons next.

Are you a loyal member of the gym? Or do you have one particular fitness class or sport that you absolutely swear by? I’d love to hear how you make fitness fun ♥