Get Ripped Outdoors This Spring

With nicer weather on the horizon, it’s time to take your workouts outdoors.

 

Don’t stay cooped up in the gym this spring, get outside and spruce up your workout. No equipment is needed, just your body weight.

Using Bodyweight

Your body weight can be used to generate any number of training stimuli. Instead of using heavier weights and higher reps, you can:

Use explosive, jumping movements to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers. 

Slow down the tempo you move at, forcing your muscles to stabilize you for an endurance challenge (called “time under tension”). 

Do a circuit of bodyweight moves just as easily as you can do the machine circuit in your gym to burn more calories.

Circuit Training

Other Exercises to do Outdoors

Medicine balls, park benches, stairs – these are all the “extras” you could incorporate into your outdoor workout. For instance, you could:

Stairs Workout

Intensity will vary depending on the size of the staircase. Try these routines from Johnson Fitness and Wellness:

Sprint or Walk every other step for 10 reps (20 total stairs)

Walk back down for recovery and repeat for a total of 4 rounds

Sprint every step for 20 total steps

Walk back down for recovery and repeat for a total of 4 rounds

Bunny Hop (feet about shoulder-width apart) every step for 10 steps

Walk back down for recovery and repeat for a total of 4 rounds

Rest 1 minute and repeat the above

 

Bench Push-Ups

10-12 reps

Place hands on bench in an incline position or, to increase the difficulty, place feet on bench and perform decline push-ups.

 

Bench Jump

10-12 reps

 

Cradle Squats

12-15 Reps

Hug the med ball into the chest and perform a deep squat

 

Kettlebell Swings & Squats

10 swings

1 goblet squat

15 swings

2 goblet squats

25 swings

3 goblet squats

50 swings

Rest 1 minute and repeat for a total of 3-4 rounds

Start Working Out Outdoors

This is a great list to get you started and adds variety to your workout on the days you want to get out of the gym and into some fresh air.

By Leslie Radford