Who says playgrounds are for children?
Okay, well probably most people say that.
…because they are for children.
…but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them to get a great workout.
For the first 10 years of my training career, I was a gym rat who loved to pick heavy things up and put them down – after all, 200 pounds is 200 pounds.
However, over the past year and a half my perspective on training has changed DRAMATICALLY.
14 months of adventure travel and no gym access will do that to ya!
These days, I can’t get enough of body weight exercises. I packed on 10 pounds of muscle while exercising outdoors in parks around the world, so I know how powerful this type of training can be.
So why not get out of the shadows and enjoy the sunshine, breeze, and strange looks from snot-nosed kids as you do pull ups on their monkey bars while screaming “FOR THE REBELLION!!!”
[note: If you happen to be a vampire and have to train indoors, it sucks to be you. Yup. That pun just happened.]Getting started
Whenever I get to a new town, the FIRST thing I do after getting settled is find a park for my “gym.”
If I can find a park with a bench and a pull up bar, swingset, or monkey bars, I know I have everything I need to complete a full workout that builds muscle and burns calories.
Although I have yet to find a kid or parent that really minds when exercising at a park (I make sure I’m not using anything they want and I’m respectful – the park really is for them), you might feel odd working out in a busy children’s playground or run into parents who understandably don’t want you monopolizing little Junior’s swingset.
If that’s true, try to work out first thing in the morning (before the kids and parents are awake) or super late at night (after they’ve gone home).
If the only playground you can find is at a school, during the day it should be wide open (except for recess) or late after school when the kids have gone home.
Yes, you will get funny looks from people walking by. Who cares? You’re bettering your life and they’re not.
You win 🙂
This is a workout that you can do every other day.
If you get bored, mix in different exercises, with different reps and levels, every other day to challenge your muscles in different ways, but this is a great way to get started!
On your off days, try interval training or yoga!
Okay, ready? LET’S GOOOOOOOO!
The Nerd Fitness Playground Workout
Here is your workout for the park!
As you know, warming up before a workout is incredibly important.
Depending on your level of fitness, you might need to scale your warm up to work for you.
Jumping right into a workout with getting your body primed is the best way to get yourself injured, which blows. We try to avoid that.
Alright! So, you’re already warmed up – let’s do the workout!
The goal is to complete this circuit 3 times. If you can complete the prescribed reps and exercises with perfect form, it’s time to level up to a more difficult exercise.
- If your primary goal is weight loss and conditioning: Complete the recommended reps for each exercise and then move immediately onto the next exercise. You can break at the end of the circuit, but try to get through each full circuit without stopping!
- If your goal is strength gain and mass building: Do all three sets of each exercise before moving onto the next one. Wait 60 seconds or less before doing the next set. It’s important to continuously increase the difficulty of the exercise, don’t just keep doing more and more reps (this becomes muscular endurance and not strength/muscle building).
READY? Okay let’s do this!
Exercise A: Explosive Leg Work – 10 Reps
- Level One: Alternating Step Ups (10 each leg) – Step with one leg, explode the other knee up towards the sky. Step back down, and switch legs. If you can’t explode the other knee up yet, just come to a full standing position on the top of the bench – that’s more than okay!
- Level Two: Bench Jumps (10 reps) – Jump as high as possible, landing as softly as possible with a mid-foot strike. DO NOT JUMP DOWN – that’s how people blow out their achilles’ tendons. Step down. You’re welcome!
Exercise B: Push Exercise: 10 Reps
- Level One: Elevated Push Ups – Use the back of a bench to do your push ups. Keep your abs and butt tight and your elbows at your side. If you need to do your push ups against a wall or a fence, that’s okay too.
- Level Two: Lower Incline Push Ups – use the seat part of a bench for your push ups.
- Level Three: Regular Push Ups – If you can complete 3 sets of 10, aim for 3 sets of 20. If you can do that, make them harder by wearing a backpack or doing plyometric push ups (or any of these other variations).
Exercse C: Pull Exercise: 10 Reps
- Level One: Swing Rows – Grab the chains of a swing, lean back, make your body tight and straight, and use your back and arm muscles to pull yourself up.
- Level Two: Body Rows – Find a bar that’s low enough, the underside of a table, a set of ladder rungs, whatever! Make your body into a tight plank, and use your arms to pull yourself up. Your park might even have a bar at this perfect height.
- Level Three: Pull Ups – Grab the bar with palms AWAY from you (pull up) or FACING you (chin up). Engage your shoulders (pull your shoulder blades back and downward), keep your core tight, and pull your chest up towards the bar. If these are too tough, do NEGATIVES – jump above the bar, and lower yourself slowly.
Exercise D: Legs: 8 Reps Each Leg
- Level One: Assisted Lunges – Hold onto a sturdy support, like the back of a bench. Take a very wide straddle stance so that when you bend your leg, your forward knee does not extend beyond your toes. Drop your knee towards the ground, and then explode back up. After doing all 8 reps, switch legs!
- Level Two: Lunges – With your hands on your hips, step out with your right leg, and drop your left knee towards the ground. Make sure you step out far enough so that your right knee is not extending beyond your toes.
Exercise E: Core: 10 Reps
- Level One: Bent Leg Reverse Crunches – For ease of filming, I’m lying on a bench, but you can just as easily do these on the ground. Life flat on your back with your hands at your sides and your legs bent at 90 degrees. Flex your stomach and pull your legs up and your knees towards you. Lower, and repeat.
- Level Two: Straight Leg Reverse Crunches* – Depending on your flexibility, this might be very tough, so feel free to move up to level 3 if those are easier and work on flexibility until you can do these. Lie flat on your back with your legs straight; engage your core, and bring your legs up until they are straight above you. Lower them back down, and repeat the process.
- Level Three: Hanging Knee Tucks – Hang from a bar, and flex your abs. Use your core to pull your knees up into your chest. Once you can do three sets of ten easily, it’s time to move onto more difficult exercises, like these shown here by Vic.
COOL DOWN AND STRETCH!
How else can I help?
Any questions about today’s workout or exercising in a park? Note that each exercise only has two or three levels.
If you are more advanced, there are easily 10 levels for many body weight exercises that can create quite the challenging workout!
I cover some of the more advanced routines with more variety in the Nerd Fitness Academy, but there’s no limit to what you can create by yourself.
Give it a try!
Any questions on finding a park in your area? Concerns about exercising in public?
What else can I help you with today?
-Steve
We create workouts for busy people just like you who want to train in parks and outdoors! If you’re looking for a custom workout that fits your lifestyle, let’s chat!
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Photo source: Swingset
