Costa Rica Fitness Lifestyle Options for Expats
In the States I worked out between four to five times per week, and in Costa Rica I get in at least six formal workouts per week, but I am active almost every day.
In my 20 years of fitness lifestyle I have found that the most healthy individuals are the ones who treat fitness like brushing their teeth, instead of like cleaning windows, so for this reason I have stayed consistent over the years.
Moving to Costa Rica I was concerned about many things, most of which was maintaining the fitness lifestyle I had come to expect, or losing ground on the health I had achieved.
The truth couldn’t have been further from my concerns as I am in better shape now than I was before leaving.
What I have found is that the opportunities to maintain a healthy lifestyle in Costa Rica are much the same as they are in any other place; more a reflection of your personal agenda than anything, and could include gyms and studios, outdoor activities or your own personal design.
The easiest way to keep active in any place is to find a gym or a studio to workout in. The past decade in Costa Rica, from the Central Valley to the Gold Coast, has seen a proliferation of high-rise condominium or apartment-style structures.
These buildings, much like their Northern counterparts will often come outfitted with modest exercise facilities but at a cost, higher rents, or HOA dues.
The alternative, and frequently more desired option for those moving here to escape those very “Western” structures, is to find more modest living accommodations and join a gym or studio.
In the central valley this is fairly easy to accomplish but as you move out from the infrastructure afforded inland to the coast you will find fewer and fewer options.
Where we live in Tamarindo there are two gyms, and a handful of small studios focusing on more open formats. My wife and I use the Tamarindo Fitness Center just about every day.
But what about the active non-gym person? The hiker, the biker, and the sunshine-liker? Frankly this sort of person rarely needs much direction for keeping an active lifestyle.
Outdoor people are “outdoorsy” because they don’t like be indoors, that’s no secret, but many indoorsy types find that their outdoorsy selves blossom in the land of Pura Vida. Outdoor anything, unless we are talking sunbathing, counts as activity.
My wife and I moved here from Los Angeles, the land of no rain, and no mosquitos, and yet my weeks are more infused with outdoor activities here than they have been since I was a kid.
In my experience, those who don’t learn to appreciate the outdoors of Costa Rica, generally don’t find a home here in the long run anyway.
The best option I have found, not as an alternative but more as an augmentation to the other two, is to build your own gym. This is a lot easier than it sounds. In fact, the less ceremonious and piecemeal your gym is, the more apt you will be to use it.
John Q Wealthy loves to contract specialists to design, buy, and install gym parts in his spare room so he can hang coats on that equipment while hosting dinner parties.
He will also likely get ripped off, not because it’s Costa Rica, but because he has no idea what all of this should cost.
John Q Thrifty, on the other hand, will assemble an arsenal of stability balls, bands, chin-up bars and dumbbells, until he has all the parts he needs to bang out a 45-60 minute workout everyday… and he will use that setup more because he built it to his needs.
This all applies to the Jane Q’s too.
Whether you prefer the local gym-rat scene, the nomad-exerciser route, or the homemade obstacle course, the realities for most expats in Costa Rica is that they have more time and more energy for attending to their wellness.
Combined with a decreased intake of processed, and unhealthy food choices, many find a new person under the weight of the world they previously carried around. I recommend a healthy dose of all three to keep your interest peaked and your body challenged always. Good luck!
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Written by VIP Member Damon Mitchell who spent over 10 years in the fitness industry before he moved to Costa Rica in search of a better work/life balance. Currently he lives in Playa Tamarindo in Guanacaste, where he and his wife Cristina are owner-operators of Pizza&Co pizza express, located in Plaza Conchal 2.
Daily, Damon runs on the beach or works out at Tamarindo Fitness Center, keeping fit by doing a combination of old-school weight lifting, calisthenics, TRX, stability ball work and just about anything he can do to create new and fun exercises. Most recently he is learning to surf.
You can email Damon here if there is anything specific about staying fit and healthy in Costa Rica you would like him to cover in his next article.
Costa Rica Fitness Lifestyle Options for Expats
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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