HEALTH Between the sweat smell, fluorescent lights and omnipresent television screens, April Herring has never connected with going to the gym.
Instead, she runs, bikes, hikes, plays tennis, pickleball and football — anything to get her exercise outside as often as possible.
“Fresh air, sunshine, the variety of the trees as the seasons change,” said Herring, an administrator at Carroll Community College in North Maryland. “There’s something about the energetic healing quality of nature.”
The health benefits of spending time in nature have long been established, and exercise in general, of course, improves physical and mental well-being.
Combine the two and you double down on what adults need to stay healthy, said Debbie Rhea, professor in kinesiology at Texas Christian University.
“We’ve got to get outside. We’ve got to be…
