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CAN EXERCISING OUTDOORS MAKE YOU TOUGHER?
Men's Fitness UK
|August 2025
You don't need to summit a mountain or swim the English Channel to reap the benefits of nature. Sometimes, just being near trees, water, or even a park can make all the difference to how we feel - and perhaps even how much pain we're able to endure

A groundbreaking study carried out by experts from the University of Vienna recently found that simply watching nature scenes can dampen brain activity linked to physical discomfort.
In the study, participants who viewed nature videos reported feeling less intense and less unpleasant pain, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans showed a decrease in early pain signal processing in the brain. In other words, the brain's response to pain can be dialled down by the presence of the natural world, even in digital form.
This prompts a compelling question: if simply seeing nature on a screen can take the edge off pain, what happens when we place ourselves in the real thing? Could moving our bodies in and among greenery offer even greater relief, or even resilience? Could exercising outdoors make us stronger, not just in body, but in how we experience and endure discomfort?
A natural advantage
Anyone who's ever gone for a run, kicked a ball, or cycled up a hill knows that exercise and discomfort go hand in hand. That burn in your legs, the stitch in your side, the breathlessness it's all part of the process.
But what if our surroundings could soften the edges of strain? If natural environments have the power to dull our perception of pain, training outdoors could conceivably help us better tolerate the physical demands of exercise.
This train of thought isn't new. Green exercise – physical activity undertaken in natural environments – has long been associated with improved mood and mental wellbeing. In Japan, the practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, encourages people to immerse themselves in woodland settings to reduce stress and boost health, not through exercise, necessarily, but through quiet, mindful presence.
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