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Outdoor Active Living

Outdoor Active Living

Why Get Active Outdoors?

It’s been proven that participating in outdoor physical activities may be more advantageous for certain psychological outcomes (improved mental and physical health) when compared to indoor environments.

Benefits of getting physical activity outdoors:

  1. Has positive impacts on mental health.
  2. Improves mood, self-esteem, concentration, and reduces anxiety and depression.
  3. More challenging terrains and natural scenery can improve one’s mental state.
  4. Decreases fatigue
  5. Positive way to spend time with friends and family
  6. Great way to have fun!

 

 

How to integrate outdoor activity into your day:

  1. Make it social
    • Creating a plan with a friend can hold you accountable and make your time being active more enjoyable!
  2. Schedule your outdoor workout
    • Write down your scheduled workout in your calendar beforehand, specifying the time and outdoor location. Treat it like any other crucial meeting, and don’t bail on yourself.
  3. Set goals
    • Establish clear and achievable goals, particularly specifying how often you aim to engage in physical activity each month.
  4. Embrace the seasons
    • Make the most of summer weather by going on nice outdoor walks, and when it gets cooler, make the most of fun winter activities such as skating!
  5. Create a playlist
    • Music has a powerful impact on mood and motivation. Create a playlist filled with all your favourite tunes that will get you energized to get active outdoors.

Going for walks, hikes and runs may be the easiest forms of outdoor physical activity, although there remain many barriers limiting people from getting active outdoors. For example: 

  1. Low-perceived enjoyment of outdoor physical activity
    • Do you not enjoy outdoor physical activity, or do you just not know what to do? Other than the typical walk or run many people do not know how to add outdoor activity into their daily lives. Adding a friend to your activities may be one way to increase your enjoyment!
  2. Accessibility of trails
    • Can I easily get to the locations where different trails are located? What if I don’t have a car?
    • Check out the section of this webpage titled “Where to get active in Kingston” located below. This section will tell you exactly how far from the Queen’s Campus the differing trails are and how long each trail may be.
  3. Accessibility on trails
    • Worried that specific trails might not meet your needs before traveling there?
    • Try: Checking out the information available online about different trails to ensure you are choosing a trail that is accessible to your diverse needs and abilities

Where to Get Active Outdoors in Kingston

These trails are all based on their distance from the Athletics & Recreation Center (ARC) on the Queen’s Campus.