There are so many benefits to spending time outdoors, especially if you live someplace like Cleveland (where our headquarters office is located).
When you live somewhere with longer winters, you generally spend more time indoors. This means that it’s really important to get outside when weather permits. People who live in colder climates and spend more time indoors are more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency. Having a vitamin D deficiency can lead to:
- difficulty thinking clearly
- bone pain
- frequent bone fractures
- muscle weakness
- soft bones that may result in deformities
- unexplained fatigue
Spending more time outdoors (while wearing sunscreen) is a natural and free way to ensure that you’re getting vitamin D. Getting enough of this hormone (that’s right hormone, not a vitamin) is essential to maintaining a healthy immune system. Those who don’t get enough Vitamin D are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s on top of all of the above mentioned side effects of a vitamin D deficiency.
Being outdoors and getting fresh air also improves your sleep and is obviously healthier for you than sitting inside (an office, a house, or a truck cab). According to the California Air Resources Board “indoor air-pollutants are 25-62% greater than outside levels and this difference poses a serious risk to health.” (source). Such health risks include heart disease, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and asthmatic attacks.
Sitting too much results in impaired fat burning capacity, decreased bone density, increased blood pressure, and a shortened life span. Exercise can help prevent or improve heart disease, strokes, type II diabetes, obesity, back pain, osteoporosis, and a host of psychological disorders. Exercising outdoors has benefits over the gym: people who run outside exert more energy than those on treadmills (and same for cyclists), people enjoy it more, and consequently, will do it for longer periods. Being outdoors and moving; even if it’s just walking, can vastly improve your health.
Spending time in nature has been linked to improved attention spans (short and long term), boosts in serotonin (the feel good neurotransmitter) and shows increased activity in the parts of the brain responsible for empathy, emotional stability, and love (whereas urban environments do the same for fear and anxiety). Being outdoors is good for the brain!
Global Transport, Inc. is a company that truly believes in the importance of your quality of life.