Outdoor bodyweight exercise routines: Not a walk in the park!

Hill Sprints for Power

This being the last weekend of the summer , the last thing on my mind was spending time indoors at a gym. Today I opted to train outside, a great idea no matter what the weather (although today was glorious)!  Training outdoors doesn’t mean endless jogs around the park or at the beach.  I find one can be much more productive by finding a quiet space and working on some basic bodyweight exercises, combined with some adrenaline pumping drills.

When building a workout program, I try not to over-think the actual routine.  I usually pick a few exercises that involve pulling, pushing, some lower body work (including squats), and those that work the core.  I prefer full-body or compound exercises over isolation movements, and I like to use a minimum of equipment.  For example, any of these exercises can be performed solely with bodyweight:

• Pushups
• Pullups
• Burpees
• Squats
• Lunges
• Tuck Jumps
• Situps
• Planks

Just pick a few and try to complete 3-5 circuits or rounds using 15 reps of each movement, with no rest between exercises.  Allow a minute of rest in between circuits. As you improve, you can increase the number of reps or decrease the rest between circuits.

Here’s what I chose yesterday:

Inverted One-Arm Row:

I’m using a Lebert Equilizer bar, but you just need to find a railing to lie under.  Grab it with one hand and then pull yourself up as far as you can.  This isn’t easy, but practice will improve your skill.  This will help strengthen the muscles of the back and help eliminate differences in strength between your dominant and non dominant sides.  If you can’t pull yourself up with one hand, use both but pick one hand to do most of the pulling.  The other arm will apply just enough force to get you to the top.

Shoulder Press:

The Press

I’m using kettlebells here, but you can use dumbells or even a heavy rock.  With the kettlebells racked at your shoulders, you press them straight up overhead.  Keeping the weights close to your body at the start will improve your performance.  Squeeze your abs and glutes as you perform the movement, and keep your weight solidly on your heels.  If you’re a hero and only want to use your bodyweight, you can try handstand pushups!

Bulgarian Split Squats:

Your rear leg is used solely for balance

Placing one foot behind you on a bench, you then lunge forward with the other foot (slowly). Keep your torso upright and try and lunge for distance, because the further away your front foot is, the harder it will be.  This works the glutes, quads and abductors and forces all of the work on the forward leg.  Try 3 sets of 15 per leg.

Plyometric Push-Ups:

You need to find a small raised area like a tree stump, flat rock or a parking bumper. Get in the plank position with one hand on the object and the other on the ground. Keeping your body completely straight, you perform the push-up, and as you are coming up you power yourself up and across the object so that you can land with your other hand on it.  This will add a real power component to the traditional strength-based push-up.  Do 3 sets of 20.

Rear Incline Push-Ups:

It’s a standard push-up, but your feet will be resting on a bench or other object.  This will increase the load and hits the upper portion of the chest.  By lifting one leg, you also will force your core to work harder at stabilization.  Try 3 sets of 15.

Explosive Speed Drills:

You start at the bottom of the pushup position, then jump up and sprint like mad for about 10 seconds.  Sprinting fires your fast muscle fibers for anaerobic benefits — that means size, strength and speed.  Take a rest of 20 seconds and repeat the drill 10 times.

Pistols:

Use assistance as necessary.

These take some practice.  Standing on one leg, you extend the other in front of you and reach forward with your arms.  You then squat, keeping your butt back for balance.  Pause slightly at the bottom, then rise back up again.  There are various ways to cheat this exercise, such as resting your front leg on a platform, or squatting down to a box, or by grabbing on to a pole with one hand for assistance and balance.  You’ll want to perform a few sets of 5-10 per leg, depending on your ability.

Tags: Exercises, kettlebells, workouts