How to Workout While Playing Fun Outdoor Games

Getaway Well to Your Own Backyard with Fun Workouts

Summer days are fleeting. We all want to get out and enjoy the good weather while we’ve got it, but there’s only so much time in the day.

Between work, chores, and spending time with loved ones, it can be difficult to find time to get out and soak up some vitamin D, without having your physical fitness routines suffer for it.

This is especially true when you’re on vacation or traveling, when the days seem to fly by in the blink of an eye.

That’s where fun workouts can be extremely helpful for killing two birds with one stone. These physical fitness games give you and your loved ones a chance to get out into the sun and stay active, so you can stay fit while having fun.

Age is Only a Number

Read the title. You may not always feel this way, but it’s true. The old expression, “you’re only as old as you feel” definitely holds some value.

When we’re traveling, we all love to indulge in the things we wouldn’t normally treat ourselves to, like unhealthy foods and drinks. That’s okay! Everyone needs to unwind sometimes.

However, when you’re feeling sluggish the next day, you have to remind yourself that you did it to yourself. Spending the day in bed isn’t going to do anything, except waste some of your holiday.

Go outside and do a fun workout. Some physical fitness games are just what you need to shake off the rust and get your blood pumping.

If kids are traveling with you, get them outside doing fun fitness games for kids. It’s a much healthier choice than giving them unlimited screen time.

Vacation or not, it’s not good to let laziness become anyone’s primary source of relaxation.

What are Physical Fitness Games?

Physical fitness games are a very broad term that refers to any games that you can participate in, which also promote physical fitness.

These can be both indoor fitness games, as well as outdoor, so for the purpose of this discussion, we’re going to focus on outdoor fitness games for kids and adults.

The Health Benefits of Outdoor Fitness Games

Fun workouts are a healthy alternative to less active outdoor games and a more enjoyable form of a workout than simply hitting the gym at your hotel.

The health benefits of outdoor fitness games are similar to that of any other form of physical fitness. The ways that the games will help you, depend on the type of physical exertion that you’re doing. The only major difference is that these games are much less intense than a full-on workout routine.

A game of tag is a great way to do some cardio. Do a wheelbarrow race, and you’ve got cardio, plus some weight lifting. The types of outdoor games you play are up to you, but as long as they’re active, you’ll be able to reap the physical benefits of outdoor fitness games.

Outdoor Fitness Games for Adults

Now that you understand what a fun workout can be, let’s talk about some great outdoor fitness games for adults.

Touch Football

Traveling with a handful of friends? Bring along the pigskin and have an impromptu game anywhere that there’s space. You don’t need a lot of room, and you can even use water bottles or sticks to represent goal lines.

Manhunt

Similar to tag, manhunt is a bit more intense. Some forms of manhunt even have a point system and team elements, if you’ve got a larger group of people to play with.

Best of all, this game is actually often played at night. So, if you’ve had a busy day out adventuring (and indulging), manhunt can be a fantastic outdoor fitness game for adults to burn off some of those extra calories.

Swimming Simon Says

This is basically just a combination of swimming with the children’s game, Simon Says. However, because you’re in the water, it can be a lot more interesting to have people imitate your outrageous actions.

Pick a leader, and have the rest of the group follow along as best they can. You can even throw on some music in the background and turn your game into a full-on dance party. Use some pool noodles to avoid having to tread water the entire time you play.

What would your vacation be without a little wet and wild excitement?

Fun Fitness Games for Kids

Some of the outdoor fitness games for adults are just a bit too intense for the young ones. You wouldn’t want a little one to get shoulder-checked into oblivion during a game of touch football. For reasons like this, it’s best to find fun fitness games for kids that are more their speed.

Tag

There are SO many variations of tag out there that we could spend forever talking about them. When it comes to outdoor fitness games for kids, this has got to be the most classic game of all time.

Freeze Tag, Jail, British Bulldog, even Duck, Duck, Goose! If you’re traveling with other parents, this is a great way to keep the kids active, outside in the sun, and having a great time, while the parents take a well-earned break.

Marco Polo

Talking about the most classic outdoor kids’ games of all time, it would be impossible not to mention Marco Polo. Named after the 13th-century explorer and trader, this game involves kids swimming around with their eyes closed, calling ‘Marco Polo’ to the person who’s ‘it’.

The ‘it’ person must return the call and then try to avoid being touched. Obviously, this game is traditionally played in a pool, but it can be adapted to lakes or ponds, as long as safety rules are put in place.

Jump Rope Games

One of the smallest game accessories you can take away with you to use in outdoor fitness games for kids is a jump rope.

Like tag, there are a bunch of different jump rope games that you can play, some counting games and some rhyming games. Encourage the kids to see who can go the longest without tripping up, or who can do the most complicated foot routine while skipping rope.

All of these fun workouts have one thing in common – they’ll help you continue your fitness journey on your next vacation, without forcing you to do intense workouts that may take some of the fun out of your trip.

If you’re trying to Getaway Well, you need to keep physical fitness in mind. These suggestions are just a few of the ways you can turn an outdoor blah day into an outdoor hurrah day.