If you can stand to lose a few pounds for your health or simply love to find new ways to exercise, give these autumn activities a shot:

1. Rake those leaves – Raking leaves can be a surprisingly decent cardiovascular exercise. Did you know you can burn up to 400 calories an hour by raking and bagging leaves? So get those garbage bags ready and round up your family for some great fall exercise (and a cleaner yard)!
2. Go geocaching ­– A cool trending activity as of late is geocaching, a large-scale scavenger hunt where participants hunt for hidden trinkets and objects using GPS coordinates on their cell phones. These items may be hidden near mountains, on hiking trails, in provincial parks or around cities. You may be walking for a while or even have to hike to collect the trinkets. People can also get to these items by cycling or snowshoeing in winter (both of which burn over 400 calories an hour).

3. Take an autumn hike or stroll – With the leaves changing vibrant colors, fall is arguably the most beautiful time of year. So why not take advantage of autumn’s scenic wonders by taking regular walks or hikes before the cold of winter hits. You can choose a new location each time! You’ll burn around 300 calories per hour hiking, and between 65-100 per mile if you’re walking.

4. Try barre workouts – If you’re not a fan of the nip in the air and would prefer an indoors fall workout, try barre exercises. A hot fitness activity this year, performing different stretches and ballet moves on your own barre (or one in an exercise facility) can help strengthen muscles as well as greatly increase flexibility.

5. Do some circuit training – circuit training doesn’t have to take place at a gym with special equipment, you can set up your own circuit activities at home or in your own backyard using walls, household items for resistance, and jumping ropes and a yoga mat! Use your imagination and have fun with it.
6. Do mini commercial workouts – Let’s face it, most of us start spending more time inside watching TV as summer ends and the cooler fall months set in, but this doesn’t have to mean our fitness levels take a plunge. Look at commercial breaks as mini fitness opportunities. Each time you find yourself in front of the TV, make a habit of doing squats, sit ups, push ups or running on the spot during every commercial break. You’ll start seeing a difference in your fitness level in no time!
7. Check out Jukari exercise classes – A new trending exercise called Jukari has emerged to whip us into shape! And it sounds ridiculously fun. It combines yoga, pilates, resistance bands and circus-like exercise techniques to create a whole-body fitness experience. Jukari can help tone and define muscle, increase balance and flexibility, strengthen connective tissues and burn fat. Sounds too good not to try!

Woo! There you have some fun fall-centric activities to help you lose or maintain target weight or just start you on a healthier path! Thanks for visiting DocChat!