The Route To Getting Fit With Park Life
Posted on 5 June 2009
Gym’s nowdays are expensive time consuming and overcrowded. Usually with people trying to hide the fact they are being lazy and just get to the gym to make themselves feel good. The truth is that fitness is more simple than this. It can be achieved in your free time without expensive equipment or travelling to and from a gym. You can also make use of the surroundings while travelling, sometimes running is the best way to figure out a new place.
The Solution? Park Life………Most of us are lucky enough to have some kind of park or outdoor environment we can use and call our own on the weekends or even during your lunch break, best of all it will cost you nothing……
Cardio
Don’t always run at a steady pace. Mix things up and you will keep your body guessing and do a much better job of pushing your body than trotting along at a steady paced jog. Always try and improve. I will regularly test to see how quick I can run round my local green (1-2k) at least this way you have a goal to focus on and you can see how much you have progressed with your training/fitness levels.
Also make sure you make use of your surroundings. Run on the grass instead of the pavement, Make use of the hills (I love sprinting up them, taking a rest then running down as fast as I can) this makes for a great method of interval training.
Resistance
You can work your body from everyday things in the park. Use benches to elevate your feet for pushups or use them for split squats. If you look around while running you will have no problem finding some tree branches that will support your weight for pullups or hanging leg raises. I have also found if your early enough in the morning with your workouts that playgrounds can have some great tools to play around with (Rings, Bars and Netting) all of which you can use for dips, pullups and ab exercises. This guy has got Park Workouts nailed…..
Its all about getting creative and using your imagination to figure out some workouts.
The Workout
This is a little something I have put together for a intense and invigorating workout outdoors.
- Warm Up Jog 5-10 Minutes
- Superset 25BW Squats and 15 Pushups x 2
- Up Hill Run for time with a sprint back down the hill x 2
-Superset 5-10 Pullups and 20 Hanging leg raises x 2 (on a tree branch)
- 2 Min fast running, 2 Min Jogging x 3
- All out sprints until your legs lose their spring (usually 3-5 sets)
Thats it your done and trust me you will be feeling that workout. Obviously adjust it to your fitness level. Too many people have lost touch with the ability to get creative and stay fit using our natural enviroments. Regain your freedom, embrace park life…….
Comment by Dusan Vlahovic
5 June 2009
You’re pretty lucky to have parks like this. Here in Chile they are much smaller and with fewer benches and poles. But hey, i still have a lot of hills around my city to go running in the nature.
@ Dusan: Cool to have you checking in from Chile. Your right we are lucky having parks but I am sure you have some sort of outdoor environment you can use to keep fit and healthy…Whether it be trails or just a quiet park of town.
Comment by Chris Barber
5 June 2009
I agree. I don’t understand why people stay in the gyms when you can be outside in the parks. There are so many things you can do. If you don’t have a park close I suggest getting out of the city and going on a trail run. The uneven terrain and rolling hills give you a great work out that varies. To find one near you, check out: http://www.seriousrunning.com/trail-running.php
Comment by Dan Miranda
6 June 2009
You know something that really makes me mad: the fact that “the gym” has become the place of excuses.
I would much rather a park full of perks than go to the gym any day. Not only do you get a nice work out, you also get the added benefit of the wind rushing in your face, the warm breeze, and the birds chirping.
Like this post a lot actually. Going to add some of these routines to my daily routine.
@ Dave: Dot It! I wish I was doing this kind of stuff at your age its a great time start some healthy habits, even just going to the park with some friends and throwing round a frisbee is swesome fun!
Comment by The Fit News
6 June 2009
Yeah, I know what you mean about losing touch.
When I gave up going to the local gym I had a hard time thinking of exercises to do. Gradually, after trying many different things and being very persistent, I ended up with a collection of exercises that I liked, could perform regularly and made consistent gains in all body parts.
People need to learn that a big part of health and fitness is LEARNING what diets and exercises suit you. No one sticks with the workout and diet their first trainer gave them. You mix and match and try new things all the time until you discover what suits you.
Lovely looking blog by the way!
Comment by DR
6 June 2009
Chris,
More and more cities around the world are trying to help their residents stay in shape by building parks based upon improving the fitness of adults…not just kids.
I agree with Dusan that the park from the video was awesome.
I live in midtown Toronto and we have nothing like that.
I am trying to convince my local/provincial gov’t representatives that for a small investment they could help improve the health of their residents with some outdoor gyms
Not having much luck, but that’s government for you
Comment by Evan
6 June 2009
Jungle gyms are getting harder and harder to find these days. I came back home for a visit and in the evening went to my old elementary school to play on the equipment, only to find that it had been taken out. I guess kids these days enjoy gravel pits.
Comment by Liam | gyms stevenage
8 June 2009
I’m just getting into park workouts. It’s great to get outdoors and be creative with different kinds of push ups, pull ups, squats and so on. If the sun is out nothing beats it!
Comment by Yummy
10 June 2009
Great post! I love working out at the park. I also like to go run around on the athletic fields of the local high school. The one near my house also happens to be built on a large hill so there are lots of stairs to run up and down.