The spring months persuade people to go out constantly, the same applies to those interested in sports. Those who go to sports halls in winter prefer to play sports in parks, sea shores and forest areas in spring with plenty of sun and oxygen.
Unbalanced nourishment due to work, people who cannot move much, as a result of this may face weight and health problems. The way to solve these problems is to eat well and of course to do sports. Sports fans who prefer sports halls in the winter season, throw themselves into the nature and green areas with the arrival of spring. The idea of both sun and oxygen as well as being in a crowded social environment is more appealing to sports fans. We talked with two young sports trainers Ekin Ayrılmaz and Ercan Tepe about the nature, timing and intervals of the exercises in nature.
Ekin Ayrılmaz graduated from Sakarya University, Department of Physical Education. He is interested in sports since he was five years old. For 10 years, he has been doing fitness and pilates. He gives lectures and trainings on these subjects.
Ercan Tepe graduated from 9 Eylül University, Department of Physical Education. After working in many fitness centers in Izmir, Tepe came to Istanbul and continues to give private fitness and Pilates classes.
What is the difference between exercising in nature and doing indoor sports?
Ercan Tepe: The amount of oxygen entering the body increases as the amount of oxygen in the natural areas is high. Therefore, working in nature can be more beneficial. It is a fact that doing sports in nature increases performance.
What conditions should be considered when exercising in nature?
Ekin Ayrılmaz: First of all, the weather conditions should be paid attention. The weather should not be too cold or too hot. It is especially important that the weather is not rainy. Especially those who are allergic to pollen in spring seasons should pay attention to the pollen in the air. Sports grounds are also important. Grass floors should be preferred, this preference is very necessary for knee health. Areas without traffic, not exposed to exhaust gas should be preferred.
How to choose training hours? At what intervals?
Ercan Tepe: The basic rule is to play sports when we feel the best. As for the general rules… First of all, two hours after the meal, sports should be done. If the meal is not digested, this may cause problems and discomfort after sports. The ideal frequency of the exercises is three days a week and duration is between 30 - 40 minutes intervals. Each movement should be made up to a maximum of three sets. The important point here is not to strain the body and to do as much as you can.
What types of exercise should people do according to their age?
Ekin Ayrılmaz: Young people, unless they have any hereditary problems or muscle-joint problems in nature can easily do all kinds of sports. In this sense, movement and exercise scales are much wider. As for the elderly, our advice is to do exercises that will not harm the joints. For example, mild running is very useful for the elderly and is a form of exercise that runs the whole body.
Are there any customers of you who say “let’s work out in the nature” ?
Ercan Tepe: My students love walking. We often work in the gym because we can't take out Pilates equipment. However, my customers do nature walks and light runs at least twice a week. In this way, they also do cardio. Especially the ones who do pilates should do nature walks and jogging.
There are municipal exercise equipment in the parks, how useful are they?
Ekin Ayrılmaz: I think the municipalities did a good thing by putting those tools. However, I can’t say that there are no tools that affect human health negatively among them. Some of the equipment that older people ride on and do sports can cause injury to the muscles-joints and shoulders. Users of these equipment may cause injuries because the users might not know the number of repetitions and movements appropriate to their body and age. They need to get help from a specialist and follow a procedure that is appropriate for their health.
We wore our sports clothes, we went to nature. What should be the first warm-up exercises?
Ercan Tepe: Warm-up is very important in the beginning of the workout. We need to get the muscles ready for basic exercises. At the beginning of each exercise, we need to spend 10 minutes warming up. In warming movements, the most stretched muscles of the body should be flexed. Because the back muscles, arms and leg muscles are particularly large, they must be flexed before the exercises. After the warm-up, we can start the exercises.
How to do leg exercises?
Ekin Ayrılmaz: Squads for leg exercise is ideal. Our feet is hip-width apart. We slowly bend down by bending our knees. While making this, we need to make sure that our knees do not cross the toes, that our hips are not inward and that our core muscles are upright. An important detail is that our chin and eyes look across.
How to do arm and shoulder exercises?
Ercan Tepe: In arm exercise, we make the elbows move upwards without moving the elbows closer to the floor without disturbing the body position. This movement is an ideal exercise for arm muscles. In shoulder exercise, we also push ourselves upwards by using our shoulder muscles to bring our heads closer to the ground by bending the arms from the elbows without disturbing the body position.
How to do chest exercises?
Ekin Ayrılmaz: For the chest, we put our toes on the floor in the push-up position with our face facing down. Our hands should be wide with feet open, our elbows should face inwards and shouldn’t be shaking. We're squeezing our core and hips. We never hang our waist down. And we slowly lift and lower our body up and down. We use our elbows in this exercise.
How to do abdominal exercises?
