Let’s Take It Outside.

How much time do you spend outside? Research suggests that the average person with an office job will be spend greater than 90% of their time indoors. If you think about it, we travel from one box to the next. We sleep inside, we eat inside, we step into our cars and move to our next compartment, all without going outside.

There is a growing body of research showing the health benefits of being outside. Intuitively, people know there are benefits to being in the fresh outdoor air. One on One Health wants you to get maximum benefits from your work-out, so whenever possible, we’ll get you out into the invigorating beach environment right across the road from our studio.

Enjoying an Active Lifestyle for Life

The amazing thing about the benefits of exercising and being outdoors is that they’re freely available to you for a lifetime. But we all require a bit of help from time to time to get to where we want to be. That’s where One on One Health comes in; we’d like you to be able to enjoy what we’ll teach you for life.

There are so many benefits to enjoying physical activity & to getting out there in our beautiful country. We’d like to share them with you. We know from experience that humans don’t tend to continue doing stuff they don’t enjoy. We won’t expect you to continue exercising if you don’t enjoy it by the time we’ve finished with you! We will help you find your thing, the thing that’s going to keep you active and happy about it, for life. Don’t expect it to all be comfortable & easy… expect to feel challenged, sometimes outside your comfort zone, expect to learn & discover more about yourself, & expect to walk away feeling stronger and more confident.

We’re sure you’re familiar with the general sense of wellbeing and peace that being outside imparts, but if you need some hard facts to compel you, have a look at what the research suggests;

• Beneficial Effects of Negative Ions

Research is uncovering more and more interesting facts about the beneficial effects of negative ions. Outdoor fresh air tends to have very high concentrations of negative ions when compared to indoor air, which tends to have higher concentrations of positive ions. Negative ions are colourless, odourless, and invisible but have many health-promoting qualities. It is suspected that high concentrations of positive ions are related to environmental allergies, asthma, and lethargy. Negative ions are believed to boost energy, enhance mood, and promote quality sleep. In addition, negative ions may decrease stress, help alleviate allergies, positively impact depression, and may even promote weight loss through their ability to increase performance.

• Beneficial Effects of Natural Light

We’re all familiar with the energizing sensation of feeling the sun’s rays on us after an extended spell of no sun. While it is vital to our health as New Zealanders to be very careful about how much sunlight we are exposed to, some sun exposure is also vital to our health. By spending most of our lives indoors and using sunscreen, we are missing the beneficial effects of natural sunlight. It is true that too much sunlight to the point of getting burned is not healthy, but avoiding sunlight can also be harmful to your health. Sunlight greatly increases the abundance of vitamin D, which more accurately acts like a hormone. Through its effects on vitamin D, sunlight helps prevent cancer, bone disease, depression, and many other illnesses that are only now beginning to be understood. Also, because Vitamin D can help lower and control insulin, sunlight may also play a role in preventing diabetes & helping people reach their weight loss goals. Research has also shown that exercising outdoors versus just being outdoors increases the benefits of vitamin D production brought on by the sun.

• Beneficial Effects of Exercising on a Natural Surface

Exercising on a natural surface offers massive benefits to your musculoskeletal system. Working out on a surface that is perfectly flat like pavement can in the long run cause your joints, tendons, ligaments, and small muscle groups to weaken. The human body will eventually adapt to any environment or situation. In other words, if you don’t use it, you lose it. In order to continue to improve musculoskeletal health, uneven or natural terrain like loose sand, grass fields, tracks, hills, and other obstacles should be utilised. One on One Health likes to get you working on all types of surfaces in order to challenge and improve your overall wellbeing. Ligaments, tendons, and stabiliser muscles that may not be used on flat or man-made surfaces get strengthened quickly on uneven surfaces when exercise is done appropriately. By increasing your functional strength, agility & balance in this way, you can significantly decrease your risk of injury.

• Connection to the Environment and the Seasons

Exercising outdoors connects you to your outdoor environment. The benefits of natural light and fresh air serve not only to improve your physical health, but also your spiritual/emotional health. There is an innate connection to the environment that begins to awaken when your body is exposed to the elements. Think about how you feel watching a sunset, walking along a beach, looking at a mountain view, being in a forest or beautiful garden, or simply feeling cool fresh air on your face. We begin to see and feel connected to our earth. It is invigorating and revitalizing. Remember; according to your body, you are still a cave person! In order to survive as a cave person, it was essential to have a connection to your environment. Your body is still programmed to benefit from this connection.

These days, we spend most of our lives indoors in a temperature range that tells our bodies it is summertime. The problem with this is that your body is busy preparing for a winter that will never come. This misinformation is further reinforced by the standard high sugar diet and the prolonged exposure to unnatural light that in the natural world only occurs in the late summer months. Being outdoors lets your body know what time of day it is and what time of year so that it can appropriately tell you when to sleep and how to eat. Cold air on your body during the winter, or warm sunlight on your face in the spring communicates valuable and appropriate information to your genes so that your body can serve you better. Being outdoors for part of the day helps re-set circadian rhythms and balance hormones, promoting optimal wellbeing & weight.