Rainy Day? Try These Four Indoor Athletic Activities

With spring comes lots of rainy days. In Columbus, the spring weather never seems to stay dry and warm. When your night or weekend outside gets spoiled with a thunderstorm, how are you going to stay active?

If you’re feeling restless but the rain won’t stop, we’ve made the perfect list of activities that turn dark days into fun! Call some friends and get moving with our four favorite indoor athletic activities.

Columbus Gets Indoor Fun

In Ohio, there’s plenty of ways to stay active when the weather goes bad. It happens so often, we’ve learned to be prepared! Whether you’re alone or with friends, these activities can make your stormy day come alive.

Bowling

When the rain comes out, it might be time to hit the lanes! Bowling keeps you active no matter your athletic level. As a form of exercise, the sport can help lower your risk of stroke and heart attack, as well as improve inner circulation. The walking and throwing of bowling keeps your muscles limber without straining them, bringing you the stress relief of physical activity with a lot less blood, sweat, and tears.

Along with the health benefits, bowling keeps everyone involved because there’s no real minimum or maximum group size. Family in town? Grab a few lanes and split up between them. Get competitive with your score or just try to stay out of the gutter; the game can be as casual as you want it. Don’t overlook how fun a game of rainy day bowling can be!

At Home Indoor Soccer

Feel like staying at home? Mini indoor soccer is a great way to get moving in a small space. In a room-sized game, the miles of running and heavy physical contact of soccer go away for an activity anyone can jump into. The movement and mental creativity of soccer is great physical exercise and can help keep your metabolism up, burning calories in the process.

All it takes is a little space, a small ball that’s easy to kick around, and a goal! If you don’t have official goals, use two objects to mark out a goal line, or run to a sporting goods store to grab mini indoor goals; most sporting goods stores make goals perfect for an in-home match. It’s easy to get moving at home; grab a ball and play a little indoor soccer!

Ice Skating

When you’re dying to get outside but a storm keeps you in, ice skating makes you feel free! Going to a local rink with friends is excellent exercise and leaves plenty of time to hang out on the ice. Almost every single muscle group in your body is used while you ice skate, from your legs and core to keep balance to your hands when you inevitably fall. Everyone falls, right? Compared to most indoor activities, ice skating is affordable, and chances are there is a rec center near you with a discounted public skate night. Maybe it’s time to strap on some skates and hit the ice!

Axe Throwing

Have you ever thought about axe throwing as exercise? The fun and physical activity of hitting that target go hand in hand. Most of your arm muscles and core get used to throw the axe, in addition to your legs helping you keep balance as you move.

The best part is, you won’t even notice the calories burning; the fun of it keeps your mind off the physical demands. You and your friends can reserve a lane and make it an event! Both locations are outside-food friendly, so dinner and a game can all happen in the same place.

A New Way To Work Out

It feels daunting to find a way to stay active and have fun when spring weather kills your outdoor plans. We hope these ideas give you new inspiration to think outside the box about getting exercise on a rainy day.

If the forecast calls for rain, reserve your axe throwing lane ahead of time and make your indoor workout a little more fun!