“Wednesday” Workout Tip: Exercises for the Outdoors Sans Equipment

Before you are inundated with images, I would like to preface that I am not a model. I have never posed for pictures such as this and thus, my facial expressions are not what you would expect to see in an exercise book. Come to think of it, I am not sure I have paid much attention to the faces of the exercise book people, but seeing as I’ve primed you to pay attention, you will. Now and forever. OK, enough rambling, let’s get to the point of this post.

As I mentioned yesterday, my friend Mr. Epidemiology (I know, what were his parents thinking?) inspired this blog post (and likely a few more to come) as he asked me and other Tweeps (a.k.a. friends on Twitter) about exercises that can be performed outside, in the park, without gym equipment (i.e. weights, bands, medicine balls).

So here’s what I came up with. I have many more ideas which I hope to post over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

The Park Bench Tricep Dip 

I am sure the majority of you are familiar with the Dip, but are you familiar with the Park Bench Tricep Dip? I didn’t think so…

Step 1:

Step 2: To move into this position, bend your elbows but keep elbows pointing back, away from your body (watch that your elbows don’t move into chicken wing formation). The movement of your body up and down should be performed solely by your arms, specifically your triceps. Your legs have no business here apart from helping you stay grounded:

Step 3: Exactly the same as the Step 1 position and thus, no picture needed!

Park Bench Step-ups 

I would encourage you to first, get comfortable with the following movement and upon surpassing your comfort threshold, increase the pace. You can do this movement on any raised object (bleachers, cement blocks, etc.).

Step 1: Yes, I know, this is fairly complex.

Step 2: Bring one leg up and onto the bench (please make sure that you have a stable park bench before starting the Park Bench Step-up).

Step 3: Bring the lonely ground leg up to join the happy park bench leg.

Step 4: Yes, you know what to do and thus, no picture required. Bring the starting leg back down to the ground followed by the other leg. You will now be (or should be) in the Step 1 position with both legs firmly planted on the ground.

 

The Park Mountain Climber

Step 1: Get into a plank position – similar to starting position of a push-up. Remember to have wrists below shoulders, bum down and in line with your back and core engaged. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this position.

Step 2: Once settled in your plank position, bend your right leg and bring it forward, positioning it between your arms (almost). Move leg back into starting position.

Step 3: Once you’re right leg is back in starting position, move your left leg forward, once again positioning it between your arms.

Once you are comfortable with this movement you want to increase the speed, exponentially. You should aim to do 20-40 lifts per leg as fast as you possibly can. Yes, this is supposed to be a challenge. Remember to keep your bum in line with your back and to keep your core engaged.

Alright, that is enough for today.  More to come next week!

Thanks again Mr. Epidemiology for the inspiration. I hope your workout tomorrow benefits from these park workout ideas sans equipment.

M