Exercise is fantastic for your physical and mental health. It’s even better if you can enjoy yourself while you are exercising! And it can be such a stress relief! These 12 fun and active hobbies you should try are sneakily active and will keep you moving while you are having fun! It’s super important to have a hobby that makes you happy and fills your bucket. If you don’t have a favorite yet, try one of these suggestions!
It’s easy to get into an exercise rut and crave a change. And there are certainly times in life when you find yourself with more free time than you are used to, and you need a little activity or hobby to fill that time. Or maybe it’s a time in life when you are insanely stressed and you need a good outlet for that stress. There are TONS of hobbies you could pick up that will help you pack in some activity, fill your time, and lower your stress! And I’m betting that most people haven’t tried the great majority of these activities. Some are activities you can go and join by yourself. Some of the activities would require a willing partner or even a team! Maybe a few of these activities might be best learned with some beginning lessons! But they are all super fun, a great way to get physical activity into your days, and should be put on your to-do list right now! Find the best way to fit in some time to try a few of these new hobbies!
Why Are Hobbies So Great?
Hobbies are so helpful in so many ways. They can help you lower your chronic stress and cortisol levels! They can help you with your stress management! Believe it or not, they can even help you with maintaining your busy schedule. I find that if I’m highly motivated to go and spend time on my hobby, I’m much less inclined to waste any of my productive time not getting things done! I want to get as much done as possible so that I can go do the thing I love and want to actually be doing.
What Kind of Hobbies Are There?
Anything that is fun for you can be a hobby! You might want to go more on your creative side with musical instruments, video games, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, art therapy, creative activities and crafts, journaling practice, and the list goes on and on! And these are all really great hobbies, don’t get me wrong. But what I really like is to combine my hobby with something that will help my overall health and relieve as much stress as possible. I don’t have that much time that is free for me to pursue hobbies, so I want to make the most of my time in a good way if I can!
Active Hobbies That Are Fun AND Relieve Stress
Being active in and of itself is a great stress reliever, which is good news! I’m always looking to lower my stress levels! So I’ve come up with a list of 12 super fun active hobbies you should try. Not only because they are fun, but they will help you have less stress in your life! And there are places in these where you can include family members too! Some of these can be group activities, which can help you also enhance your social life, too. Making new friends is always a win!
1) Tennis
Tennis is a SUPER fun hobby and sport! Who doesn’t love smacking a ball as hard as you can with a racket?! There are all kinds of tennis clubs you can join in most cities. That way you can have matches with partners and not have to bring or schedule your own opponents and partners all the time. Tennis is a great cardiovascular activity and it keeps you moving! And don’t worry if you aren’t great at it! Lots of practice helps!
Lessons
If you are a total beginner at tennis, I’d recommend taking some lessons, in the beginning, to make sure you have your form down correctly. We don’t want any injuries!
2) Golfing
Golf is also a SUPER fun sport. And these days, there are so many options around! You can actually go play golf on a course if you want to make at least half a day of it! Or if you are more pressed for time, you can go to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls whenever the mood strikes! We have a new place here called Top Golf (there are tons of them around now) that’s a massive multi-level driving range that lets you play games with a group of people while you have snacks and drinks!
Lessons
If you’ve never played golf, a few beginner lessons are definitely super important. You want to make sure you get your swing right so you don’t hurt yourself and so you are getting the most out of your energy. And not smacking the ground over and over while missing the ball. That’ll really take it out of you. Not that I have any experience with that whatsoever… And again, like tennis, we don’t want any injuries!
3) Biking
There are so many different kinds of biking you can do! There are road bikes, mountain bikes, and every kind in between! It’s so nice to get out on your bike and go for a ride. Even when it’s super hot outside, once you are going on your bike you have such a nice breeze! Biking is also great in that you can totally do it all by yourself or find groups to join for rides. It’s completely up to you how social you’d like to be. I love that you are outside and getting fresh air while you are enjoying your bike ride! And you are keeping your heart rate up while you pedal, so that’s a win for exercising!
Lessons
I don’t know that bike riding requires lessons, per se. But I’d definitely suggest that you get fitted for the correct size bike and make sure that your petals and seat are positioned correctly. You want all your energy and efforts to go into propelling you forward for your bike ride!
4) Fishing
I don’t know that fishing will help you get a ton of activity in, but man is it good for stress and relaxation time! By nature, you’re fishing by a body of water, and water in and of itself is just such a calming force in the world! And it’s usually beautiful! And fishing is all about baiting the hook and sitting back to wait for what happens. It’s a quiet sport and one that makes you slow down and take your time! There are so many different kinds of fishing you can do too! And it’s a sport you can do totally by yourself or with a friend or even a group of friends.
Deep sea fishing, fly fishing, freshwater, saltwater, lake, creek, river, etc. You name the water, you can probably fish in it!
Lessons
It depends on several things. I grew up next to a creek, so I’ve been fishing my whole life. I’m good for that kind of fishing. But fly fishing? I have no idea how to do that, and would definitely need some lessons! There are lots of places where you can get a guide to just take you fishing and teach you all you need to know.
5) Hiking
Hiking is an incredibly active hobby! You definitely get your exercise in when you hike! And you are out in nature and it’s an excellent way to de-stress! There are many levels of hiking so you can kind of choose your own appropriate fitness level and adventure level! I’m more of a moderate hiking adventure type of gal. I don’t want to climb the face of a rock or any of that mess. But I’m happy to follow a well-marked trail for a nice walk in the woods that generally ends in a beautiful view!
Lessons
This depends on how avid a hiker you’d like to become. For your average hike, no lessons are required. You do need some good shoes though! And you need a buddy or group to go with. It’s not good safety practice to go hiking by yourself. Though it’s tempting as it would bring so much calming solitude, it’s just not safe.
6) Gardening
I have always found gardening to be wonderful for the soul. There’s just something about planting things, watering them, watching them grow, and keeping them alive. Nature is just full of all kinds of miraculous things and I’m in awe every time I watch a plant grow and bloom. And it’s a pretty active hobby too. Lots of bending and stretching and moving around. You’ll realize how much movement there is after you do it for the first day and use all those muscles that are not used to being exercised!
And there are so many different directions you could go with your gardening! Depending on the time of year you could make a vegetable garden! Or just grow flowers! You can do container gardening if you don’t have enough space to have a full-out garden.
Lessons
For gardening, you don’t need specific lessons, per se. There are TONS of free lessons and videos online that you can watch if you want to get into gardening. And then once you see what you love, you could then get some books or find some classes to take on that subject within the gardening world!
7) Bird Watching
This is a hobby I’d love to get into. I just adore birds! And you’d be out in nature to observe the birds at least part of the time! I’ve got a few different bird feeders in the yard and it’s really fun to watch all the different birds that come to each feeder! I love that you have to be still and quiet in the woods and trees and just watch for birds. It just kind of forces you to be right in the present moment and take in all your surroundings.
Lessons
I don’t know if you would need lessons for bird watching, but it would definitely be fun to join a group that goes together for your first few times at least so that you could learn where to best find certain birds and how to go about planning your bird watching sessions.
8) Dancing Lessons
The sky is the limit here! There are SO many kinds of dance lessons you could take! If you have a partner, you could take ballroom dancing! Or if you prefer to go it alone, you can take all kinds of classes! There’s ballet, tap-dancing, modern dance, salsa dance, hip-hop dance, you name it, there’s probably a dance class for it!
And one of the best things? If you are more than a little challenged with your coordination and rhythm (like myself!), you can take lessons at home to start out so you have a good foundation before you join a big class. But to be honest, I wouldn’t worry about being the one in class that doesn’t know the steps at first. You are all there to learn and you’ll catch on super quick I bet! Don’t let those negative thoughts slow you down!
Lessons
FOR SURE. If you want to get the most out of your dancing, I’d definitely recommend lessons. And there are SO many kinds of classes and lessons you can take!
9) Workout Classes
This might not seem like a hobby, but it definitely is! Several years ago, I went to a Zumba class to try it out and it’s my favorite workout activity in the world! Loud music and an hour of dancing? Yes, please!!!!!
Workout classes are a great way to try new physical activities too, and you have the added benefit of having a guide to show you all the best ways and forms to do the moves! And they are generally relatively inexpensive, or oftentimes included in your gym memberships!
Think Zumba classes! Or Barre Classes! Water aerobics! Kickboxing! Martial Arts (like Karate, Tai Chi, Taekwondo!)
Lessons:
These are all classes, so they are built-in lessons too!
10) Yoga
I don’t lump Yoga in with the workout classes and it’s for a very good reason. Yoga is more centered around not just your body, but your mind as well. It’s all about calming your mind, your body, and your environment. It focuses on deep breathing, too! It’s a wonderful practice and it helps de-stress so much. And it’s so good for your body. It helps you stay limber and flexible and it’s super low impact and slow moving to avoid injury as well. And you can do it from almost anywhere, so you don’t have to worry about having a ton of equipment! And it’s a really good tool to help you stay calm in stressful situations, you can use your deep breathing skills to help lower your stress.
Lessons
I would definitely recommend going to a few classes to begin so that you learn your correct forms. And you can do those online too. I enjoy the in-person classes for the nice and calming room and the camaraderie of others, but it’s not necessary at all.
11) Kayaking
If you are a water sports person, this is a new hobby for you! You can go kayaking any time of year, depending on your tolerance for the weather! You are out on the water, which I find to be a calming location always. And it’s usually got some gorgeous scenery to take in as well!
You could kayak with a group, go on your own, or get a double kayak so you can share a boat with a partner!
Lessons
You don’t really need lessons for kayaking, but you do need to make sure you know what you are doing. Like how to properly secure the kayak on your car, how to get in the kayak without ending up in the water, and things like that! Always wear a life vest and make sure someone knows where you are. And I still wouldn’t recommend going by yourself. Safety in numbers.
12) Horseback Riding
I’ve never been horseback riding, but always thought I would enjoy learning! It looks so fun and would be such a fun activity! You can ride for fun, for competition, or anywhere in between. This is probably the hobby on this list with the heftiest price tag for sure, so keep that in mind, also! Horseback riding would be fun in a group or individually!
Lessons
Lessons here would be a MUST. You would need to learn proper safety for the horses and yourself, along with how to best care for the horses as well. It’s important to have proper form as well, so you don’t hurt yourself while you are riding. And always wear a helmet. Safety first.
Wrap Up – 12 Fun and Active Hobbies You Should Try
It’s important to have a hobby. And it’s important to relieve your stress sometimes. If you combine those two things what do you get? A stress-relieving hobby! And there are all kinds of stress-relieving hobbies out there! This is just a short list of some that are fun to try! These hobbies are active and keep you moving and I like to think of that as getting the most “Bang for my buck!” Not only am I exercising, but I’m also doing something that’s super fun and interesting while I’m exercising and getting my stress levels calmed down! These activities put me in a positive mood and have great health benefits. And that’s all a win-win! So, I challenge you to go out and find your new favorite hobbies! Find a way to work a new activity into your daily life and enjoy!
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