During my regular distance run in the park yesterday, the sun was shining bright and it was bestowing its warmth on my skin. The cool September breeze felt pleasant on my sweaty flesh. This was the first time I noticed that the trees and shrubs around me have started changing color. The plants were now turning different shades of yellow and red. This fireside hue of the plants is one of the most beautiful transitions of nature. The long hot and active days of summer filled with swimming, running, and biking will soon turn into cold and wet days of winter.

A lot of us start staying indoors as soon as the fall air gets crisp and cold. I love the fall season as the temperatures are milder and the landscape is just gorgeous. The milder temperatures mean no humidity and consequently less sticky, sweaty feeling during exercise. The fall landscape has the perfect variety of colors to keep the eyes busy too. Fall is the perfect time to continue your summer fitness schedule or even harvest a new exercise routine. The change of seasons brings a renewed time to rethink and restart. Yes! that’s right renewing and reenergizing workouts are not just for the new year. Being safe is very important though. Shorter days do bring darker mornings and evenings, but this shouldn’t deter you from an outdoor exercise regime. Wearing reflective clothing, layering up for cold weather and carrying a flashlight will keep you safe in the dark and from the elements. Here are a few ways you can stay in shape this fall.

Visit a park

Search the parks in your township. Most parks are within 3-4 miles radius of houses. Visit a park and take your yoga mat and weights with you. Do a circuit with weights and bodyweight exercises for 30 – 40 minutes and follow it by 10 – 15-minutes of stretching. Wallah, you will be able to get a great one-hour workout session in nature surrounded by hustle and bustle of people around you. Research shows that even short-term activity in nature or even urban park settings has positive effects on stress relief compared to the city environment. The salivary cortisol level has been shown to decrease in people who spent time in urban parks and open woodlands (Tyrväinen et al., 2014).

Go for a jog or run

Fall is the perfect time to hit the road. Buy a good pair of sneakers, running tops and shorts and you are good to go. I know, I don’t have to sell you the benefits of running. Research has shown repeatedly that’s running is great for boosting mood, cardiovascular health, cognitive functioning and improved metabolism (Oja et al., 2015). Fall is the perfect season for running races, find the ones in your area and sign up for one. It’s a great way to keep yourself accountable and start a great training routine.

Grab your bike and hit a trail

Find scenic trails in your area. Buy or rent a bike and enjoy the changing colors of fall on two wheels. Discovering nature on the bike has clear health benefits, and it can be a mood booster too. Biking is also great as a low impact cardio alternative to running, so what are you waiting for? Saddle up and hit the trail riding.

Get playing

Playing fall sports isn’t just for kids. You can make the most of the playtime in the field with your kids. At the fall sports for kids, make time for your exercise when your kids are practicing and playing the games, rather than sitting on the sidelines, walk around the perimeter of the grounds or warm-up and cool down with kids and do a bodyweight circuit while they play.  Another way to incorporate exercise in the field is to spend an extra 30 minutes practicing the sport with your kids at the end of the session.  It will give them good practice and you will get a workout. Better yet kids will be excited to see your involvement in their favorite sport.

Pick some apples

Fall is perfect for picking fruit. Find orchards or farms near you and go apple picking with your friends and family. Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year for spending time outside. Climb up the apple trees for some good upper bodywork and then carry them back to the farm shop for check out and get a good farmer’s walk with the weight of apples.

Attend fall festivals

Apples are not the only things to pick in fall. Go pumpkin picking. With the average large pumpkin weighing between 12 to 20 pounds, you are sure to get a good workout lugging it around. Don’t forget the fall festivals with haunted houses and corn mazes are just a few other options the season has to offer, and you get to spend time with your friends and family in a fun environment as a bonus. Corn mazes are an easy way to log in several miles with your family.

Sign up for a class

Children are back in school and learning a new curriculum. Why should you stop learning? Be a lifelong learner. Find a new class or activity you have wanted to try for a long time, Barre®, kickboxing, spinning® and maybe yoga. Classes are a great way to stay on top of your exercise routine. You get to meet a like-minded group of people. Signing up for an eight to ten-week session will keep you motivated and will help build a habit to workout.  Classes are a great way to try something new and keep the boredom and burnout away. My township offers a wide variety of classes. Check your township’s recreation calendar for affordable class options.

Enjoy the fall bounty

Fall is a great time to eat healthy food. Dwell into the high fiber fall produce like apples, sweet potatoes, squash, and pumpkins. Fill your baskets with these orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. They are rich in beta carotene and folate which plays an important role in maintaining normal vision and supporting the immune system (Slavin and Lloyd, 2012). They are also rich in other contain antioxidants, such as alpha-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin. Antioxidants protect against cell damage (Slavin et al., 2012).

Hire a personal trainer

If you are thinking all these options are great but you still feel puzzled about working out. You are motivated to incorporate exercise into your daily routine but don’t know where to start? Then it’s time to hire a personal trainer. A personal trainer will take the guess work out for you and help you achieve your goals. Its’ easy to find personal trainers at your local gyms and nowadays a lot of personal trainers such as myself are mobile trainers, they will travel to clients’ home to give an in-home personal training session.

Work out at home

If all falls short, then turn your family room into your go-to gym. All you need is a mat, resistance band, and free weights. At this time of the year, many people look forward to fall premieres of their favorite television shows and Netflix seasons. So, if you love following TV shows or binge watch Netflix, turn the tv time into workout time. Only 20 to 30 minutes of exercise is enough to get moving and to reap the health benefits of exercise.

In the end, we are all driven by different goals to work out. Sometimes goals aren’t enough to keep you motivated every day. The best way to stay connected with exercise is to choose something you’ll enjoy, whether it’s biking or hiking with a friend, working out with a personal trainer, or being part of a barre class.