Top Nine Physical Hobbies

Staying healthy nowadays doesn't always mean trips to the gym and working out on an elliptical while gazing at a television three days a week. Of course, it does mean eating healthy and a routine of physical exercise to tone and stretch the muscles. 

If those one-hour workouts at the gym sweating to your favorite workout tunes seem a little dull, there are quite a few physical hobbies you can try to keep in shape.

As you age, your body may tell you it's best to spend your days in front of the television, but rather than vegetate on the couch, try a few of these hobbies instead.

Hunting or Recreational Shooting

Whether you love to hunt big and small game or enjoy frequent trips to the shooting range, hunting and recreational shooting is a fun physical hobby for any gun enthusiast.

When you need to break down your firearm and clean, it becomes a cathartic, peaceful moment and helps you release tension as you concentrate on the takedown of an AR upper and lower receiver of an AR-15.

At the same time, it requires more financial input than many other physical hobbies, but the return on investment of this hobby will keep you satisfied and fit at the same time.

Walking

It's a known fact that walking for thirty minutes will improve your physical condition. Just thirty minutes a day can decrease fat, improves cardiovascular fitness , and helps reduce the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

For those addicted to walking, consider making hiking and backpacking your favorite physical hobby. Hiking and backpacking in natural settings such as forests and mountainous regions not only serve to keep you fit, but the beauty of nature has a way of easing the mind.

Sports

There is a wide variety of sports you can choose from if you're looking for a physical hobby to keep in shape. Depending on how physically rigorous you want the pursuit to be, you can find both summertime and wintertime hobbies to keep you fit and healthy.  

From hitting the links and tiny golf balls to parasailing, basketball, baseball, or soccer, you have your pick of several sport-related physical hobbies.

Swimming

Swimming is a perfect blend of physical exercise and enjoyment, not just getting wet on a hot summer day. Remember those days of the dash and splash at the municipal pool? Most of us didn't think how much swimming around in the water did to keep us fit.

The entire body gets a workout from legs to arms as you kick and pull yourself through the water. While swimming can be a sport, it can also be a perfect physical hobby you can experience year-round in an indoor facility. It's the water and you and as many laps as you're willing to make.

Dancing

Whether it's interpretive dancing, clogging, line, or ballroom dancing, this is another satisfying way to stay fit as you twirl with a partner or just by yourself on the dancefloor. Dancing promotes a healthy muscle tone and helps to improve cardiovascular activity. Even those with two left feet can benefit from hitting the dance floor and trying out a few new moves.

Bowling

Another inexpensive way to stay fit and have a good time doing it is bowling. Even with today's inflation, you can get a full workout tossing your bowling ball down the lanes for between a dollar to five dollars a game.

Just like swimming without all the water, the physical act of rolling a bowling ball down a polished lane at ten white pins utilizes your hands, arms, and legs. Since most bowling balls are between eight and fifteen pounds, you're also getting weight resistance training on whichever hand or arm you use.

The good thing about bowling as a physical hobby is that you get the same workout even if you tend to throw a few gutter balls.

Gardening

If you want a physical hobby and don't mind getting your hands dirty, you may want to take up gardening. Planting and potting require frequent use of your hands, arms, and legs.

Whether it's a flower garden or a vegetable garden, there's plenty of weeding and watering, mulching, and furrowing you will do when your hobby is gardening.

Gardening is also a gratifying physical hobby. When those rose bushes or hydrangeas blossom and bloom, it's a beautiful and aromatic moment for sure.

Digging up potatoes you planted or snapping homegrown beans and shucking corn from stalks that you nurtured is gratifying and helps save a little money in the process.

Simply put, gardening as a hobby helps you stay fit and full or, at the least, allows you to keep flower vases in your home filled with sweet-smelling flowers.

Cycling

It is true that once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget. However, if you haven't been on a bike in several years, don't sign up for the Tour De France just yet.

You may be a bit shaky at first, but you'll quickly remember all the old habits in no time and hitting those biking trails like a pro. If cycling the streets and dodging cars isn't much to your liking, you can still get the same workout on a stationary bike.

There are many brands of stationary bikes on the market with varying price ranges and features, so you're sure to find one that meets both your budget and hobby requirements.

Running

While many of us tell ourselves that our days of running for enjoyment are over, they're not. The physical hobby of running spans the age bracket from age four to age eighty-nine. Not only will running improve cardiovascular activity and muscle strength, but the physical act of running also requires cognitive control over the body.  

When you run, your mind helps set the cadence of your breathing. You think about how to draw in and conserve oxygen feeding the muscles in your legs and arms. You become lost in the passion of moving your legs and arms most conservatively.

Whether it's a one-mile run or a twenty-five-mile marathon, running is probably one of the best forms of physical hobbies you can try.