Exercise through the seasons: Spring

The days are getting longer. The air is smelling sweeter as warmth creeps slowly back into our lives. We just want to soak up the sun—spring is finally here and it’s the perfect time to get moving!

Spring Exercise Benefits

This season is hopeful. It’s an era of shedding the heaviness of old commitments, cleaning up, and getting organized. People are looking ahead instead of backward, and are trying to put the best foot forward. Exercise can be incorporated into this momentum. Enjoying the best of spring can’t wait—just as all seasons must pass, the beauty and color makes a short but incredible visit.

We welcome the return of green, the bustle of people out and about, and the signs that life is thriving—as we should strive to be. Being outside just feels right. Spring temperatures are less extreme than winter or summer, and can be more comfortable for a workout.

Workarounds for Excuses!

Because weather can be variable (depending on your region), it’s harder to plan activities ahead. Spring climate can go from frosty to rainy to sunny. The key is to be flexible, having a full range of things in mind for staying active. Be ready to enjoy a warm day outdoors, brave the elements, or workout inside. Dress in layers to stay comfy if the sun comes in and out of the clouds.

You may have been in hibernation all winter and feel out of shape, but never fear, there are exercises you can start today, no experience necessary!  For every excuse there is a workaround.  What are you waiting for?

Spring Fever for the Senses

Flower power walk or run

Taking a stroll may yield something different every week. From crocus and cherry blossoms, to daffodils and irises, the colors are precious when the days have been bleak. If your neighborhood doesn’t have much to offer, find a park, botanical garden, nature preserve, or a nearby snobby zip code that might have better flowers. Just don’t pick anything that doesn’t belong to you.

“Sorry about your roses, lady. All we have are dandelions past 209th”

In Portland there is a public rose garden that smells and looks amazing in June and costs nothing to visit. Check your local library for free passes to outdoor gardens. I took my extended family on a free tour of the Portland Japanese Garden using a library pass that I was able to reserve online from home.

There are also flower festivals around the country, big and small, that provide ways to enjoy the blooms. I get a full day of walking when I attend the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. They even have a 5-10k trail run with a view of countless rows of amazing brilliance.

Rainy day hike

Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you can’t be outside enjoying the air. Listening to the sound of pattering raindrops is soothing and meditative, plus the greenery doesn’t get much better than this. As long as you have good shoes you should be fine, but be careful of slippery spots. Sometimes trails can be muddy.

Here we have Forest Park, which looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale in the spring, with ferns and morning mist and giant fir trees. Probably why they filmed scenes for the TV show Grimm there.

Birding http://www.audubon.org/birding

Grab a pair of binoculars and look nerdy. Be sure to wear khaki shorts with lots of pockets and pull your socks up to your knees. Then find a hot spot for watching birds and walk there briskly, with swagger.  The bird is the WORD, yo.

The kids have loved listening for the “okaree” of a red-winged blackbird, and gawking at the nest of a great blue heron. I take this to the next level by using my Audobon Society app, where I can look up migration patterns and listen to calls. If you are unsure of where to look for birds, think of somewhere with water and trees as a starting location.

Cleaning up

Spring cleaning is exercise

I know, what a cliché—spring cleaning is for losers who have nothing better to do. But there is something about this time of year that makes people want to get their lives in gear. And vacuum their mini blinds or rearrange their furniture. If you harbor such inclinations you should go full on and make a cardiovascular workout or strength training session out of it. If there was ever a time to make a 3 hour gangsta rap playlist, go ceiling to floor, and clean dat bitch up, it would be now. Need a checklist? Oh, got one for cleaning your house too.

Gardening and yard work

If you have outdoor space at home you may be getting antsy to freshen it up. There is probably sweeping, power washing, and weeding to do. Digging and basic hoeing can burn some serious calories.

Righteous cleaning for others

Springtime cleanup of natural areas requires the physical labor of generous volunteers. There’s no good reason for you to not be one of them. Search for beach, park, and trail cleanups in your area. In spring Oregon beaches get a scouring with help from kind souls, young and old.

If you don’t want to drive to help clean up, pick up trash near home on your walk or run.  You might look crazy, but you’re actually being awesome, just like the misunderstood local heroes that dig through dumpsters at the stadium for cans to recycle.

Meet up or get there

Cycling, sports, and other meet ups

Although serious cyclists may pedal year round, some of us wait for fair weather, and that’s okay. I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay. If you want to take a ride but feel safer on the road with others, or simply want to enjoy the company, use a site like Meetup to connect with other cyclists. You can use social sites to find people doing all kinds of group workouts, maybe some you’ve never tried.

Team up with some friends and play tennis, a 3-on-3 basketball game, or some indoor raquetball. Look at your local parks and rec catalog for class ideas and team sports leagues. You aren’t the only one who wants to exercise, and making plans or signing up can help you stick to your commitment to move.

Workout commute

There is no better way to kill two birds with one stone and save your own life with an act of murder. The two birds are named exercise and commute. (I hope you didn’t get attached when you saw them in your binoculars earlier.) If you have never tried to walk to the train or ride your bike to work you can start now. I am lucky to live close enough to work that a bike ride there only takes 10 minutes more than it does to drive. If you simply cannot incorporate exercise into your commute, try walking on your lunch break to squeeze in some daylight with vigor.

To Snow or to Melt

Spring snow sports

In early spring there is usually great skiing. You may even get one of those T-shirt slope days where the sun is out and the snow is like butter. If you ski regularly a spring pass can be a great value, and there are less crowds. Snowshoeing is also available and is even sexier in a bikini. (Or at least more comfortable with less layers.)

Waterfall power melt

As mountain snow starts melting, waterfalls get a boost and become even more powerful and gorgeous. Our Columbia Gorge waterfall hiking will be different this season due to wildfires this past summer, but I’m sure there are still some great places for viewing. I will probably check somewhere else out, like University Falls, or Silver Falls.

There are so many ways to keep moving in spring. Even if you have a reliable exercise routine, try to do something as fresh as a daisy. April showers bring May flowers, and spring exercise can bring summer legs that are worthy of culottes.  Those who choose to make activity a regular part of their lives AND have fun with it won’t regret it. I swear.