Outdoor fitness that is kinder to the planet
June is National Outdoors Month, which is a good moment to point out something we do not say often enough: an outdoor bootcamp is a far lighter way to get fit than a gym, for you and for the place you live in.
We train at Stave Hill Ecological Park in Canada Water and in the surrounding Russia Dock Woodland. No building, no power supply, no membership card. Just a hill, some grass, a few kettlebells and a coach. That has always been about the quality of the training first, but the side effects are worth a moment of your attention.
A gym is a building that runs all day
Think about what a gym has to do to open its doors. Lighting, heating in winter, air conditioning in summer, screens, sound, and rows of machines that all draw power. It runs from six in the morning until ten at night whether ten people are in or a hundred. That is a lot of energy spent to let people move their bodies indoors.
Our sessions run on daylight and weather. When it is cold everyone wears another layer. The energy budget for a Bootcamp SE16 session is essentially a coach walking to the park with a bag of kit.
Less kit, less waste, more of your own body
- Sessions lean heavily on body weight, the steps and the hill, so there is not much equipment to manufacture, replace or power in the first place.
- We ask everyone to bring a refillable bottle. There are no plastic cups, no vending machine and no single-use anything.
- Almost everyone walks or cycles in from Canada Water, Surrey Quays, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, so getting to training costs nothing and burns nothing.
There is a training argument underneath all of that too. Working with your own body weight over uneven ground asks more of your balance and coordination than a machine that holds you in one groove, so the shorter kit list is not a compromise.
Fresh air is better air
Indoor air in a busy building is not always great. Ventilation is variable, cleaning products linger and a room full of people exercising is a room full of people breathing. Outside, none of that applies. You get moving air, daylight and a park full of trees and planting quietly doing what trees and planting do.
You do not need a study to notice the difference. Most people finish a session at Stave Hill feeling clearer and calmer than when they arrived, and that is a big part of why they keep coming back.
Using green space is how green space survives
Stave Hill Ecological Park is a genuine nature reserve, five acres of woodland, meadow and pond habitat in the middle of one of the densest parts of London. Places like it need to be visibly valued and used, or they get quietly squeezed by whatever wants the land next.
We have trained here since 2013, and part of that relationship is looking after the ground. Members turn out for volunteering days to clear, rake and reseed the areas we use most. Training outdoors makes you notice a place. Noticing a place tends to make you protect it.
Mark National Outdoors Month by going outside
The whole point of this month is a simple one. Get out of the building. A walk around the Albion Channel, a swim, a run through Russia Dock Woodland and a coached session on the hill all count. The version of exercise that happens outdoors is the one that most people keep doing.
If you fancy trying it with a group, we train mornings, evenings and weekends, for all levels and in all weathers. Ring us first and we will book you in. Bring trainers and a bottle you can refill.