Doesn’t the weather make you feel so much better when it’s like this?

Everyone just seems a little bit happier, the stresses they had don’t seem quite so bad when the sun is out.

I’m trying to not get ahead of myself as I know it isn’t quite the summer, I mean I had to scrape ice off my car before training yesterday but still it’s nice.

It got me thinking about exercise, I went for a cycle down the cycle path towards the beach yesterday, there were loads of fellow cyclists, walkers and joggers out at the same time which is brilliant.

It’s so much nicer and more enjoyable to exercise on a nice day.

Even my spin class this morning had doubled its usual numbers; I find it’s much easier to get out of bed when it’s light as opposed to the last 6-7 months when it’s been pitch black first thing.

On a day like today, sun shining no clouds where would you like to train?

In the gym?

Or…

Outdoors?

It’s a no brainer for me … outdoors every time!

You don’t need a gym to get fit and healthy, you don’t have to lift weights to build your muscles and you certainly don’t need a treadmill to get fit.

I’m all for the gym and I’m there most days but for those of you who haven’t got a gym membership or for the gym goers who want something a bit different make your gym the outdoors.

Living where we are in Llanelli on the coast we have so many potential exercise locations:

• Pembrey Country Park
• Sandy Water Park
• Various Cycle Paths
• Different parks
• Swiss Valley Reservoir
• Countless rugby and football pitches

So there can be no excuses.

If you don’t like or don’t know what to do on your own then partner up and find a friend to do it, make it more social and it will seem like less hard work.

Also joining a running or cycling club is great alternatively take up a sport like football, rugby, tennis even golf just find something enjoyable that will get you outdoors.

Wales is a beautiful place with so many outdoor activites. I’ve heard good things about Go Ape which could be a fun day out for the family. Or maybe climb a mountain, I climbed Snowdon last year and it was an awesome day out as well as being a good form of exercise. There’s also loads of different walks you can go on around the country.

If you have felt a bit cooped up and stressed during the cold winter months then I can’t think of much better things (besides jetting off on holiday) than getting outside and getting active.

For those of you who have ambitions to lose weight and get yourselves looking lean for the summer then if you haven’t already now is the perfect start.

By the way let’s hope it doesn’t rain all the time after I’ve written this post!

So there you have it for this week.

Not too much information to take in just hopefully something to get you thinking about taking advantage of our surroundings and using them to get fit and healthy.

Honestly it doesn’t matter what you do, if it’s just a 10 minute walk then good for you, go and do it.

We all have to start somewhere.

It’s not all about how far you can run and how much you can lift, it’s about being healthy and being happy.

Thanks for reading,

Jamie Stedman

PS I am thinking about starting an outdoor circuit class, possible on the weekend for the spring and summer months. If this is something that interests you please leave a comment below just saying Yes.