As we inch closer towards spring, now is the time for personal trainers and weekend warriors to prepare themselves for some good, old fashion outdoors workouts.
As much as I love working out outside in the winter, I totally understand that there are people who’d rather hibernate and keep themselves in a temperature-controlled environment. Despite my willingness to train outside, as a personal trainer and strength coach, many times my enthusiasm for outdoors strength training, sledgehammer training and sprinting doesn’t rub off on my clients.
And I suspect many of you feel the same way about training outside in the winter.
But now that spring is about to spring, I expect a whole bunch of folks to join me in the great outdoors over the next several weeks. And this is my annual call to arms for folks who just think that the only thing that you can do outdoors is walk or jog. Nothing can be further from the truth.
If you’ve been a regular visitor to the site you know that sledgehammer training and kettlebell work are ideal forms of outside exercise. Whether you’re home or on vacation, the sledgehammer and kettlebells are among the most portable pieces of equipment that you can own. And of course the same holds true for dumbbells.
On the first sunny, 55-degree day that we’ll no doubt get in the next couple of weeks, grab a couple of pairs of dumbbells and head on outside. If it’s too muddy to workout on grass, use your driveway. Check out the videos on the site that show how to perform calisthenics and body weight squats and incorporate these moves into your outdoors workout. If you’re a total nut like me, take a barbell into your backyard and combine traditional strength training moves with sledgehammer training and kettlebell swings.
In about 30-minutes you can get a better and more enjoyable workout in your backyard than you can in any gym or with any personal trainer. Except if I’m that trainer, of course. And if you have the urge to run, don’t jog, but sprint. Step off a 20-30 yard area in your back yard or in a local park and sprint as hard as you can over the distance, rest about 30-seconds and repeat until you’ve done 10 sprints.
If you do these sprints the right way you’ll get a much better cardiovascular workout with much less stress on your body than you can get from jogging/distance running. If you really want to get out and commune with nature and enjoy the great outdoors, there’s nothing wrong with just going for a nice 30-minute walk instead of a jog.
There’s nothing jogging has to offer that’s better than going for a nice, brisk walk. Those of you who are lucky enough to live in a place where the weather never gets as miserable as it does in the northeast region of the U.S. where I am, or in other parts of the world where the weather is even worse than it is here, don’t take for granted the awesome opportunity that you have to exercise outside pretty much 365 days a year.
Getting exercise outside is one of the most enjoyable experiences that there is, and is a great way to keep from falling into a rut.
