Revitalize workouts, go outside
FitnessGet your mojo back by exercising in an open-aired, attractive place

By James H. Burnett III Comments 0
Published: November 3, 2009

If you belong to a gym and have fallen off the fitness wagon, maybe a trip to the park or beach is in order. Not to lie on your back, but to get moving again. So says Dr. Rhonda Fine, a Miami, Fla., psychologist who advises health nuts and the people who train them on how to get their mojo back.

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Fine’s advice to people who’ve gotten out of the fitness routine? Find an open-aired, attractive place to exercise.

"We tend to perk up in the sun,” says Fine, who is sometimes a consultant to fitness trainers. "On the scientific side, it has been proven that the sun generates endorphins in our bodies that give us energy, give a boost. And so in times of depression and worry, if we can’t continue a routine, the best thing is to try that routine in a cheerier location.”

Fine says the economy’s also to blame. "So many people are depressed or worried about the state of the economy that they find themselves almost paralyzed with fear and unable to do all but the most necessary things for survival. Personal fitness, at times like these, is often one of those casualties. You just don’t feel like working out.”

Heather Murphy, who is in real estate sales, has every reason to be depressed, given the downward turn of the real estate industry. She recently joined fitness trainer Marquel Wimbley in South Beach, Fla., for a beach boot camp to shake things up.

"It’s sort of like one of those things you do every so often to throw off your routine and keep yourself on your toes. Except in the past I’ve done that as a way to simply alter my workouts. Now? I’m doing it because I don’t want to work out, period.”

Wimbley led the group through 90 minutes of sprints, push-ups and calisthenics, with some yoga for a cool down.

"I like to think of this as a kickoff to get back into exercise,” Wimbley said. "It’s mental. You work out. You get endorphins. And you feel good. It covers everything.”