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Camp Your Way to Fitness
Get Fit in the Great Outdoors
By Phyllis Ring
A self-described "comfort-lover," Samantha Gale of Dover, N.H., once dreaded anything to do with camping. But since her husband coaxed her to go on wilderness trips to the Southwest and Canada's maritime provinces, she's hooked – and fitter than ever. "Being in nature makes the best vacation," she says. "Exercise is always part of our trips and always feels more fun, whether we're carrying 30-pound packs on our backs or kayaking along a rocky shore."
In a 1999 National Sporting Goods Association survey, camping climbed to No. 3 on the list of top 10 female participation sports, with 23.3 million women choosing it over working out on exercise equipment. Those who go camping automatically experience a host of built-in fitness activities, says Sally Oliver of Bristol, Maine. Campers must stay active, doing everything from pitching a tent and gathering kindling to hiking to the nearest running water or bathroom facilities that can be a quarter of a mile away. "Everything you do needs effort, whether lifting water jugs, shifting equipment, even cooking, with its bending and lifting to get food and cooking gear," she says. "Also, since you're living more or less outside, you tend not to slump onto a comfy piece of furniture and not move."
Women who want to give camping a try don't have to go it alone. These days, Oliver does most of her camping with a medieval recreation group. This offers a chance for lots of physical activity in the great outdoors since cars aren't allowed in the camping area and she has to carry everything on foot, all while wearing the heavy yards of fabric of her medieval "garb."
"The [camp site of the] biggest event I go to is over a mile and a half long," Oliver says. "So to go from the camping area to classes or other daily events can be quite a hike." If that's not enough exercise, she can supplement it with such available activities as canoeing, hiking, rock-climbing, cave-exploring or botany field trips.
