HALLOWEEN HAS BEEN and gone, the clocks have changed and there is a sense of winter in the air. Daylight is getting a little shorter and there is a slight more of a chill about. However, these are my favorite days of the year to get out and exercise outside.
There is something special about a cold evening walk, a crispy conker-filled training run or even a park workout.
With the silly season fast approaching, I have aimed at getting a Sunday morning workout in. Lets face it, December Saturday nights can be a distraction full of good things like nights out, Christmas parties and catch-ups with family and friends so the last few Saturday nights I have found myself chilling out holding out for the December nights and getting a light sweat on Sunday mornings.
Come Sunday, I have already clocked at least 30 hours on the gym floor working with clients so the last thing I want to do is head back down on Sunday myself and work out here. So I take myself outside.
I am huge fan of bringing workouts outside so I’ve put together some routines that you can do outdoors with little or no equipment. Like I’ve said before, you don’t need the best, most up-to-date equipment or gym to perform an effective workout.
Suspension trainer park workout
I am a big fan of the suspension trainer. A simple set of gym rings or a TRX suspension trainer is a good brand but there are plenty of other affordable suspension trainers. It’s a a very easy piece of equipment for home or the local park and is even something you can throw into your suitcase if you find yourself on the road a lot.
I did this workout in the local park in the kids playground.I simply hooked the straps up to a climbing frame and was good to go. The routine below is another full body routine and all you need is 15 minutes so give it a go:
Kettlebell park workout
If you are a regular reader to my work I am sure you know by now how much a fan I am of the kettlebell. The kettlebell is an excellent exercise tool and is something I recommend everybody to have about the house. It’s perfect for a home or park workout, versatile and quite easy to bring on the road as you can perform so many movements with it.
I combined the bell with running intervals and lots of bodyweight movements paired up with the bell like deadlift high pulls, push ups and Russian twists, which give you a really effective full body workout with only one piece of equipment needed.
Ideally I would recommend you to go through this full circuit and once it’s complete take a two-minute rest and repeat again for three to four rounds.
Create your own gym equipment workout
For this one you don’t need any equipment what so ever just a little bit of imagination. Working in a shed in the early days with little to no equipment really developed my coaching thinking cap on how to create different workouts and movements with no equipment. Most parks nowadays have benches, climbing bars and even some outdoor gyms and this is how I created a 30 minute workout below.
I hope you’ve found this information useful and if you need any more advice you can pop me a message from the links below.
David Last is a personal trainer based in Dublin. For more information you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Or you can send him a direct message here.
You can also see some of his previous articles here.
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