Stop at Nothing with Creative Outdoor Sports

Recreation & Sports Blog

Getting out of the gym and outdoors is a great way to develop your fitness using functional training. Whilst the gym environment certainly has its advantages, being out in the fresh air can be more difficult and challenging and thus has the potential to render greater effects. For example running is harder outdoors because of wind resistance and uneven terrain, which itself can help to develop leg strength and the smaller muscles used for stabilising the ankles. If you're imagination ends at a basic jog follow some of these simple ideas to incorporate effective fat burning workouts into your regime. 

Those Rainy Days

One of the biggest things that stop people from training outside is the weather. It can't be controlled, and it can really put a dent into any workout programme if it causes hazardous conditions. Fortunately if you live near some synthetic grass tennis courts you can still enjoy the feeling of bootcamp training in a park without the fear of slipping over in the mud, which can cause many debilitating injuries. Synthetic grass also has the added benefit of providing cushioning for the joints, so things like squat jumps and burpees become less taxing on the body.

Because of the additional grip you'll have on the court, it's easy to create an entire workout based on suicide runs where each person runs to increasingly distant points and performs various exercises before sprinting back. This sort of training is perfect for developing power, strength, stability and fat loss through High Intensity Intervals (HIIT). 

Fun in the Park

If you don't have synthetic grass courts near you and the grass is far too wet and muddy, a total body workout can be achieved in a local children's play area. Jungle gyms are packed full of sturdy structures that can accommodate a variety of different exercises, and may also have synthetic grass or rubber mulch flooring. Try doing pull-ups on the monkey bars or staggered incline push-ups, or perhaps even single leg squats on wobbly seats that the children rock on. If you're training in a pair get each of you to alternate finding new and interesting ways to mix up basic bodyweight exercises and see how much fun you'll have. 

Hills Were Made for Running

Running can be painful for the knees if you don't wear appropriate shoes and run on a road, which dips off to the side causing the knee to twist. Instead try hill sprints as the incline will stop you from over striding and minimise the impact on your ankles, knees and back, whilst pushing your VO2 max to the limit.

3 November 2016