Protect Our Earth, Protect Your Health: Sustainable Approaches To Fitness

Even though you don’t technically need any equipment to get fit, most of us own at least some fitness gear. You know, things like resistance bands, yoga mats, and wearable monitors. That’s why it’s important to consider the environmental impact of items like these, as well as the habits we maintain. In doing so, we can have a better understanding of the state of sustainability in the fitness industry.

4 Sustainable Approaches to Fitness

Whether you realize it or not, the fitness industry hasn’t always been very environmentally friendly. Despite being designed around the advancement of personal health, things have often been pursued at the expense of the environment. Thankfully, this trend has been reversed over the course of the past few years. With an influx of new products and habits among consumers, the industry is becoming much greener.

Here are just a few ways eco-friendly innovations are changing the fitness world:

1. Sweat to Electricity

If you walk in to a spin class in one of New York’s top gyms on Eighth Avenue West and 23^rd Street, you’ll see a familiar sight: lots of stationary bikes with people sweating, panting, and making all kinds of painful faces. However, what won’t be familiar are the small black boxes attached to each bike.

These boxes are actually compact generators that convert the motion of the wheels into electricity. Furthermore, they use that energy from the riders to reduce the gym’s dependence on electricity. Pretty cool, huh? While the technology still has some hurdles to overcome before coming to a gym near you, it’s neat to see this kind of innovation happening.

2. Water Bottle Alternatives

Slowly but surely, America is learning that its dependence on plastic water bottles isn’t healthy or sustainable. We’ve come a long way over the past decade, but there’s still room for improvement.

With that being said, reusable bottles have experienced significant growth in the consumer marketplace over the past couple of years. While plastic, aluminum, and stainless steel all come with their own pros and cons, each is dramatically better than the bottles you’ll find on supermarket shelves.

3. Flexible Practice Aides

For kids, finding places to practice their sports and hone skills is always a challenge. Thankfully, though, you don’t have to purchase a ton of unnecessary products to account for all your different needs.

Some of today’s top sports technologies are more flexible than past solutions. Take lacrosse goals, for example. Many of the models currently on the market are able to be set-up and broken down for quick transport. This saves space and ensures you don’t need two or three nets for different locations or purposes.

You also need to make sure that you find the right attire to work out in. Fortunately, there are a lot of great green workout shorts. You can see more if you still need to buy them.

4. Green Yoga Products

If there’s one area of the fitness industry that’s doing a fantastic job of creating sustainable products, it’s the yoga niche. There are dozens of companies now selling green yoga products, such as yoga mats made from natural rubber, recycled yoga totes, towels made from organic cotton and bamboo, and yoga pants with organic fibers.

If you need a yoga product, you can bet there’s a green option. Just check out some of the different choices and do your research. Since brand name is such a driving factor, prices can vary dramatically from one product to the next. Be sure to carefully read the labels before purchasing.

Play Your Part

Fitness and sustainability are now synonymous with one another. While there’s still ample room for growth, the products and habits associated with this industry are getting greener by the day.

Make sure you play your part!