I think this was a great sort of directional adjustment in my exercise routine. I began regular resistance workouts, took shorter walks. These days I yearn for the times when I had so many activities to choose from. But I have to be patient. That will come again.

So there are different aspects to physical health that can be improved by different kinds of exercise. Resistance training increases strength. Long-distance running and walking increases endurance. High-intensity cardio makes our hearts and lungs work better. Hiking helps improve balance.

But perhaps more than any of these benefits, the type of exercise we choose affects how enjoyable it is. And the more enjoyable it is, the more likely we are to do it and continue to do it. So if you like hiking, do it with vigor. If you like swimming, swim. If you like running, do lots of running. It’s good to mix things up for all the reasons I mentioned earlier. But there are many ways to improve strength, and not all of them must be done in a gym. The same goes for the other ways we want to improve our health.

Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay