Top 9 Unusual Sports You Should Try

While it is raining, slushy and cold outside, running around the stadium, riding a bike or playing tennis on the court will not work. If you don’t want to go to the gym because you’re afraid of getting bored, this collection is for you.

1. Climbing

To climb a real mountain, you need to buy professional equipment, look for rocks and wait for comfortable weather conditions, but you can climb to the top of the climbing wall at any time of the year and without much preparation.

The surfaces of the climbing wall come in different levels of difficulty: sloped or flat, with a simple or complex set of holds. Climbing trains not only muscles: such exercises are useful for developing coordination, endurance and flexibility. They also teach them how to find solutions in difficult situations.

2. Cycling

Cycling is not just an exercise on a modern exercise bike. Here you need to pedal together with other cyclists, competing with them or just enjoying the company. The coach monitors the course of the lesson: he controls the technique, encourages and sets the pace.

The lesson takes place in front of a large screen. Sometimes it shows videos with beautiful landscapes: an imitation of a trip through the mountains or the sea coast is created.

3. Aero yoga

The perfect workout after a stressful day at work. Aero yoga, also known as anti-gravity, is yoga in hanging hammocks: with their help, inverted asanas are performed, which give a feeling of flight and weightlessness. By the way, silk hammocks can withstand up to 160 kilograms.

Also, aerial yoga helps to tighten the muscles of the body and stretch the spine – this is especially useful for those who sit a lot. From the outside, the classes look like complex acrobatic workouts, but in fact everything is much simpler: anti-gravity does not require prior training and experience in yoga.

4. Capoeira

Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and aerobics. The training takes place under funny Latin American tunes played on traditional musical instruments: berimbau, agogo, atabaque and others.

The whole capoeira lesson takes place in motion: even in between exercises, you need to perform ginga – transferring body weight from one leg to another while covering your face with your forearm. Ginga is a pose from which you can strike or dodge an opponent’s attack.

In the first capoeira lessons, the movements and strikes will be simple, but over time, you can move on to complex attacks and movements, such as handstands and overhead flips.

5. Cricket

One of the most popular traditional games in England is cricket. It appeared around the 16th century and by the 18th century it was firmly included in the list of national games. 

The essence of cricket is quite interesting: it is a non-contact team game. Each of the two teams has 11 participants, they are located on both sides of the field. In the middle of the field is a small area – a pitch. Teams take turns hitting the ball and trying to prevent opponents from scoring more points. The main goal is to destroy the wicket of the opposing team with the help of the ball and cricket bats.

6. Slackline

A sport that makes you feel like a circus performer. Slaiklining is walking on a nylon or polyester sling stretched between two points above the ground, water, or floor in a conventional gym. The sling does not have to be too high: you can even start from 10 centimeters above the ground.

Depending on the height and degree of tension of the sling, slackline is divided into types. Lowline is suitable for beginners: the height is up to one and a half meters, the tension is not strong, the length of the line is no more than 40 meters. Over time, you can move on to more extreme views, for example, trikline – slakline with tricks or highline – slakline at a height, usually performed with insurance.

7. Squash

This sport is very similar to tennis: the task is to hit the ball with a racket. True, in squash there is no net, and the opponent is standing next to you.

The game begins by throwing the ball into the front wall, then you need to hit it with a racket before the ball touches the floor twice. You can hit the front wall or the side walls. The main thing is not to send the ball into the out zone.

Squash is not only an interesting game, but also a great cardio workout: you can lose more than 500 calories in an hour session.

8. Badminton

We used to perceive badminton as a street game that is cool to play with friends in nature. But they can also be used indoors. By the way, it’s even easier: the wind will not blow off the shuttlecock and change its trajectory.

Badminton is not just entertainment, but a full-fledged sport that is included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games.

You can play badminton with two or four people. The rules are simple: you need to throw the shuttlecock over the net and not let it touch the field. The main task is to repel the projectile so that it lands on the side of the enemy.

9. Jumping on a trampoline

First, it’s fun. Secondly, it effectively burns calories and pumps muscles. Trampoline training can consist of simple jumping in place, jumping with a leg lift, jumping from a squat and other types. You can even perform complex tricks, such as somersaults: the main thing is to follow the safety technique and experiment only under the supervision of a trainer.