28 Sep Fall into fitness: 5 tips for exercising outdoors

The fall air may soon feel pretty cool depending on where you live, but don’t let that deter you from getting a great workout outside.
Your body will warm up quickly and if you dress correctly you may actually decide that fall is the best time of year to exercise outdoors.
Here are five tips on how to prepare for exercising outdoors in the fall. Depending on your makeup you may be more or less susceptible to the cold, but these are general guidelines to follow:
1. Get a good windbreaker with big, easy to use pockets. Why pockets? They’re not for your hands, but to put items you might want to pull out to put on to get warmer, or to store things you take off.
2. Get a good pair of running pants. Try some out at a local specialty fitness store, or you can roll the dice and hope for the best from one of the countless online sites. A good pair of running pants should keep you comfortable and warm.
3. Get a good long sleeve dri-fit shirt. This will be your base layer and on many fall days this will be all you’ll need.
4. Get comfortable gloves, along with headband and-or hat. Depending on the conditions, you’ll be very glad to have these, but if you don’t need them put them in windbreaker pockets.
5. Don’t forget sunscreen and H2O. Even though the temperatures get cooler in fall and winter, doesn’t mean you should forget about skin protection and the importance of staying hydrated.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com