Sustainable fitness: 5 tips for a more environmentally friendly training

You can also make your fitness routine sustainable and consciously avoid products that are harmful to the climate. We present five tips to make your workout more environmentally and climate-friendly.

Air conditioning, electrically operated fitness equipment, elaborate lighting in fitness studios and highly processed animal protein drinks – the conventional fitness industry is often behind when it comes to sustainability. Fitness studios in particular that are open around the clock record a high level of energy consumption. To no longer support this trend, you can switch to environmentally friendly alternatives. They are even cheaper.

Tip 1: train outside or at home

Fitness studios can maintain their energy-intensive measures if they continue to be funded by sufficient members. You can train your physical fitness in a more energy-efficient way without a gym membership:

• You don’t need a treadmill for endurance training: jog, walks or cycling is best done in the fresh air. With the right equipment, this is no problem even in winter or in the rain. Slow jogging is particularly gentle on the joints.
• You can also do strength training away from the gym with the help of home workouts: Either you do it at home or use public green spaces. You don’t need much more than a mat for this. You can find inspiration for this here: Workout at home: ideas for sports in your own four walls
• In many cities there are now so-called outdoor gyms: Here you can let off steam in the fresh air for free on equipment that stresses your arms, back, legs and stomach – without using any electricity.

Tip 2: Buy sustainable sports equipment

The manufacture of fitness equipment already consumes large amounts of energy and consequently uses a lot CO2 emissions free. If you want to buy additional equipment for your outdoor or home workout, you should therefore also keep a few tips in mind:

• Second-hand goods are not only environmentally friendly, but also inexpensive. On online portals, for example, you can easily find dumbbells, yoga mats, fitness balls and other aids that have already been used but are still functional. By continuing to use them, you save valuable resources. For reasons of hygiene, you should thoroughly clean and disinfect the products before using them for the first time.
• Reebok has tested popular fitness equipment for sustainability as part of a study. The result: A DIY dumbbell made of polyethylene causes the fewest CO2 emissions at 0.4 kilograms per piece. This is followed by the exercise ball weighing 0.6 kilograms. The most environmentally harmful of the ten products examined is the desk exercise bike at 3.7 kilograms.
• Use a yoga mat rather than a sports mat for your workouts. According to the Reebok study, the latter causes 3.2 kilograms of CO2 emissions. In the case of the yoga mat, the number is only 0.7 kilograms. You can find more information on a particularly environmentally friendly mat here: Yoga mats: These six are durable, sustainable, and pollutant-free.
• It is even more environmentally friendly if you completely dispense with additional aids in the exercise routine. Finally, you can also work out effectively with bodyweight exercises, high repetitions and the right workout combination.
• Sports clothing in particular contains a lot of microplastics, as the material should be particularly breathable and elastic. If you wash your clothes, the contained microparticles get into the water. To prevent this from happening with plastic, you can get one Guppyfriend gain. This collects the microplastic so that you can dispose of it in the correct bin.

Tip 3: ensure the longest possible service life

A central problem also remains with the low-emission DIY dumbbell: It is made of plastic, is therefore not biodegradable and is difficult to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner. Therefore, make sure to use your fitness equipment carefully in order to ensure that it lasts as long as possible.

• If you no longer want to use certain tools, but you can still use them, you can sell them yourself on online portals or flea markets, give them away to friends or put them in gift boxes and shelves on the streets and paths.
• If you do have to dispose of fitness equipment, you should find out beforehand (preferably directly from your local authority) where the relevant materials belong. It is best to bring products such as treadmills, cross trainers and dumbbells directly to the recycling center.

Tip 4: Buy sustainable and fair sportswear

The problems of the conventional textile industry can also be found in the area of ​​sportswear: Garments are often produced at low wages under inhumane working conditions in distant countries, travel long distances to Germany and, after use, end up in landfills instead of being recycled. The EU alone generated 2.35 million tonnes of textile waste in 2018. You can find out more here: Documentation tip: Fast Fashion – The dark world of cheap fashion

To stop promoting these grievances, you can use fair fashion labels. For example, they use more environmentally friendly materials, some of their clothing are made in Europe and ensure fair working conditions. We’ll introduce you to recommended brands in this article: Sustainable sports fashion: the best brands.

As a cost-effective alternative, you can also rely on second-hand goods for sportswear. If you wash things before using them for the first time, you don’t have to worry about any hygienic problems.

Tip 5: Avoid conventional fitness food

The fitness industry thrives on the demand for protein drinks, bars, and other highly processed products. These usually consist of animal whey protein. To produce this protein isolate, many production steps are necessary that consume large amounts of energy.

In addition, the milk of non-certified organic products usually comes from factory farming and not only causes a lot of greenhouse gases (such as in particular methane), but also a lot of animal suffering. Then there is the packaging problem.

For an environmentally conscious way of life, it is therefore advisable not to use such products. Instead, you can also track your protein needs with Legumes, Nuts, Seeds and, in moderation, also dairy products and eggs. To a Animal Welfare and a sustainable agriculture to guarantee, you should purchase organic seals (such as Demeter, Organic land or Naturland) respect, think highly of.

By the way: You should always have water with you. Fill up tap water in a long-lasting bottle. Here you can find 6 of the best stainless steel drinking bottles.

Read more on Techzle.com:

• Make your own protein shake: 3 recipes
• Doing sport: How to find the right sport
• Finding Exercise Motivation: This Can Help You