Summer is the perfect time to take your fitness routine outdoors. A park offers a far more luscious and contemplative setting than the four walls that surround a treadmill and stack of weights at the gym.
Getting away from the house, desk and computer and into natural surroundings not only stimulates creative thought but also presents a fresh environment for activity.
In a park, the tedious notion of “exercise” can be rediscovered as just fun.
But sometimes you have to uncover it yourself. It is easy to drive by parks without really checking them out as opportunities for adventurous exercise, but you’ll want to know: Are there hiking paths? Benches? Hills? Stairs? Pull-up bars? Open fields for Frisbee tossing or soccer? Are there canoes, rowboats, paddleboats or kayaks for rent? Is there a softball field? Take a walk around and check out the options.
Most of us understand the benefits of cardiovascular exercise for our health. You can walk, run or bicycle around the many park paths and byways for 20 minutes or more. (Moving at a consistent pace and elevating the heart rate for 10 minutes or longer is considered aerobic exercise.)
A solid, smooth surface is not necessarily the best place for walking. By getting off the man-made tracks and onto natural ones, the body maintains proprioception (where it is in space), gets a break from the impact of hard surfaces and keeps balancing skills in tune.
What about the anaerobic cardiovascular system, designed for quick, explosive moves such as those used in sports like tennis, basketball and soccer? Adding sprints to your basic trip around the park accomplishes this, but you might have more fun trying something new.
Here are some ideas to get you started. Remember to warm up before your outdoor workout and cool down afterward. Do some jumping jacks before any jumping exercises.
Linda J. Buch is a certified fitness trainer in Denver and co-author of “The Commercial Break Workout.” Write her at LJBalance@aol.com.
CAN YOU TOUCH?
Trees can be used for working on jumping skills, and as as “goalposts” for testing speed and rapid change in direction.
Look for a low branch just out of reach and try to jump up to touch it. Jumping straight up and landing on the feet helps improve balance, is good for the bones and works the gluteus muscles.
Play tag between two trees, seeing how many times you can run or walk between them in one minute.
PUSHING IT
Benches are great devices for exercising the muscles of the chest, shoulders, back, arms and legs to do push-ups, dips and squats.
STAIRMASTER
Steps or bleachers are good for leg muscles. Climb them as fast as you can and rest on the way back down. You can also use stairs for performing strength exercises and endurance.
MAKE GREAT STRIDES
Leave the path to the walkers, and take to the hills for a workout that challenges the body’s anaerobic energy system. Power walk up the hill as fast as you can. Rest as you walk back down and repeat.
BENCH
Push-ups work the chest and triceps with the core muscles and thighs acting as stabilizers. Place your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart on the seat, shoulders positioned over the wrists. Stand so that your legs are extended behind you, forming a wedge in relation to the ground (you will be leaning into the bench and on your toes). Brace your core by tightening the muscles of the abdomen, lower back and gluteus maximus. Slowly lower your torso toward the bench; push up and repeat. Go down as far as you can while maintaining good form.
Easier: Stand behind the bench and place your hands on the back of it.
Harder: Put your feet on the seat and your hands on the ground.
Dips work the triceps and shoulders. Sit on the edge of the bench with your hands next to your butt, feet in front of you in a “chair” position (knees bent, feet flat). Ease yourself forward so that your butt is clear of the bench (but almost touching). While keeping the spine neutral and looking straight ahead, bend elbows slightly and then straighten them. Repeat as many times as possible. (If you feel shoulder pain, don’t drop more than a few inches below the bench seat.)
Harder: Straighten the legs so that you are on your heels, not the soles of the feet.
Squats work the legs and glutes. Stand in front of the bench with the back of your legs about 3 inches from the bench seat. Brace the core muscles, pull the shoulders back (shoulder blades squeeze toward each other), lift the chest, put hands on hips and look straight ahead. Without pushing the knees forward over the toes of your shoes, push the hips back and down toward the bench seat. Get as close as you can without touching the seat and stand up. Repeat as often as you can or perform for a set amount of time (30 seconds to a minute or more).
Harder: Raise hands straight over your head and hold yourself in the squat position for a count of five to 10 seconds before returning to the standing position; repeat.
HILLS
Run or power walk up a hill as fast as you can to work your leg and arm muscles. Rest as you walk down.
Harder: Swing your arms straight ahead of you and jump with both feet down the hill, letting your hips drop down and landing solidly on both feet. Don’t jump downhill if you have knee problems. Do hill climbs and descents in intervals from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your fitness level and how you feel.
PATHS
Step side to side and/or hop side to side to work leg and core muscles, and improve ankle stability and strength. Variables you can change are the length of your stride and your speed. Use the stable surface of the pavement and the less stable surface of the grass, or both.
STEPS
Lunges work the quadriceps and hamstrings, as well as the thighs, butt and calves. Place the right foot solidly on a step, and step behind you far enough that your front knee and back knee each create up to a 90-degree angle. Balance on the ball of the left foot. With hands on hips and spine in good posture alignment, brace the core muscles and drop the left knee toward the ground, but don’t allow the knee to touch the step. Return to your original position by pushing up with the right foot. Continue for 10 repetitions then switch legs. Don’t let the knee of your forward leg travel over your toes.
Harder: Reverse your position by turning around and placing the back leg on the step and the front leg on the flat ground. To increase the difficulty, find a higher surface to put you back foot on.
Mountain climbs work the core muscles, hips and legs. Get in a push-up position with arms on a step and legs three steps below. Keeping hips as low as possible, bring the right knee into the chest. Jump and switch legs. Repeat.
Harder: Try to keep your front foot off the ground and the knee as close to your chest as possible.
