Posts Tagged ‘green exercise’
The Benefits of Green Exercise
I first wrote about Green Exercise in post on trail running last year. It is “physical activity in the presence of nature.” There was some interesting research published that even just 5 minutes of green exercise decreases the risk of mental illness and improves the sense of well-being. While all types of natural environments produced advantages, including green urban environments (e.g., a city park), researchers noted that those that contained water resulted in greater benefits.
Read More"Green Exercise" Trail Run to Train for Tough Mudder Today
To continue preparing for the Tough Mudder event, I am still doing CrossFit during the week. But I’ve also added a trail run each weekend to keep improving my endurance and add a bit more cardio work. I ran again in my Vibram FiveFingers to see how they feel on the rocky trail and what it feels like to keep running in cold, wet feet. It was ok. The FiveFingers certainly just let the water come in and your feet are instantly wet and cold. But I found that my feet warmed up as I kept running, so it was tolerable. My feet obviously still need to toughen up more. I felt all of the sharp stones on the trail (it was a really rocky trail). But, the barefoot running style ensures that you are landing lightly on your forefoot and lifting your feet quickly back off the ground again. So, hitting a rock wasn’t nearly as painful as it would be when you stride out and land harder on your heels.