Get Out in the Garden

It might sound like an ‘old person’ thing to do (sorry Dad), but it’s extremely satisfying to maintain a garden you like, and it gives you the option to grow some fresh food for yourself while staying active. A weekend hauling bags of mulch and digging holes will certainly test your strength and stamina, and the fresh air certainly won’t hurt. Gardening is also great for keeping your stress levels down and giving you time to think, both of which are great for your health.

Yoga Class

Yoga is great for flexibility, strength and balance, all of which will help improve your fitness in other sports, too. It can also be a great social opportunity, and it has been found that participating in hobbies alongside a “buddy” will increase the likelihood of you sticking to it.

Dance Lessons

Going to dance lessons with your partner will have you both up and moving around while learning to do something you can both enjoy.

Join a Running Club

This one kinds of sells itself! It’s literally exercise, but running as part of a group is a great social activity, too. Find a running club near you and get involved; whatever your fitness level is, most social groups have ways to tailor group runs so that everyone’s involved.

Go on Hiking Holidays

What better way to spend a Saturday? There’s a real primal sense of achievement to seeing a big hill and managing to get to the top of it. Take some friends, a picnic, and make a weekend of it in a new part of the country.

Practice Paintballing

It’s a stereotypical stag weekend favourite, but many paintball providers (like this one in Essex) are offering regular paintballing packages for all sorts of people in order to help them practice and increase their fitness. You’d be amazed how much cardio is required to play a full day of paintball.

Get Golfing

Skip the golf cart and you can end up walking 10km while you and your friends get 18 holes in.

A hobby is, by its very definition, something that is fun and that you look forward to. Whatever you choose to do should get you up and moving around, using your brain, and either has a social element or a sense of real achievement. Try a few of the suggestions above, and let us know how you get on!

Whilst committing yourself fully to dance is a full-time job, you can incorporate different kinds of dance into your workout for some extra variety. Whether you’re looking for something fun or something intense, there are lots of different parts of dance you can bring into your daily routine.

Jazz

More contemporary than ballet but using a surprisingly similar style, jazz is a great way to have a lot of fun with jazz, and the basics are quite easy to pick up. This is the perfect style for those who enjoy yoga and Pilates thanks to the amount of flexibility needed to perform the moves like a professional.

In order to incorporate some jazz dance into your workout, you can replace your standard stretches with jazz-inspired positions. You’ll develop stronger leg muscles as well as slowly but surely elongate your upper body.

Ballet

Ballet is a surprisingly effective work out for the entire body, which especially helps to strengthen your core and improve balance. Many balletic positions and dances can help muscle growth and lengthening, which can help elongate your arms and legs.

Jessica Wilson from Dance Direct notes: “Ballet in particular is a fantastic way for dancers of all ages to increase fitness, flexibility and all-around wellbeing whilst relieving stress and taking part in an activity you enjoy rather than pounding the treadmill.”

If you’re looking to learn the basics, starting with the essential ballet positioning for arms and feet is a great way to start. You’ll know when you’ve truly started to master the basic when you can perform dance from fifth position!

Hip Hop

For something completely different from the above, hip hop dance will really push you to your limits. Perfect for those who enjoy an athletic work out where in you are constantly moving and using different parts of your body, you’ll feel the benefit most in the lower body and stomach.

Hip hop dance will push you to use muscles you’ve never even felt before, as you slide across the floor and even dance on your knees. It’s important to remember it’s safety first, but it’s also a lot of fun for such an intense workout!