The Great Outdoors and Sweat Results

 

Let's cut to the chase:

The biggest barrier to outdoor workouts...the weather.

Other barriers:

• Debilitating thoughts that enter your mind about outdoor workouts. Oh, I can't accomplish good results by working out outdoors. 😤
• Piggybacking off the notion that workouts only occur indoors. Only gyms can do the trick.
• Lack of knowledge. What will I do...swing on branches?
• Lack of motivation. I'd rather melt on the couch 🛋 with my attention dialed toward my phone or tablet.
• Convenience of having heavy weight machines and plenty of heavy weights at your disposal. But, you can work around that and get solid results.

In my masters thesis, I covered playgrounds and exercise. I went around to about ten playgrounds in Cambridge, MA and ranked each one, according to their workout potential, based on a rubric I designed. 

So,what?

Well, my so-what, which is a common research question showed the relationship of how outdoor workouts possess effectiveness. An individual can use playground equipment to get full body gains. The more difficult gains to achieve without using heavier equipment or heavier portable equipment may be observed in the lower extremities. However, you can work around that, utilizing the terrain, inclines, techniques and tempos, and plyometrics in your routine.

Heat 🔥 & Cold 🥶. Would you rather workout in the heat or the cold weather? I am finding out that I can last longer in the cold. My tolerance for cold weather workouts has now dipped to below 20°. As for the heat, I am no longer a fan of humidity like I tolerated as a youth. How on earth did I play in 95+ degree heat?

For the heat 🥵, pick the morning if you can. Pick the evening if you can. Be safe at either time. That is, make sure your environment is safe. For the cold 🧊...bundle up. 

Rain 🌧. I will not play with lightning ⚡, but rain is a go. Torrential downpours...nope. A mist, drizzle, or pitter-patter...yes. The main issue with rain is to have awareness for the surface as it gets slick. So, cutting, stopping & starting, and running may be limited. Certain skills like agility, speed, and plyometrics may take a back seat on a rainy day.

Snow ❄. Snow is a workout. You shovel it; you work out. You walk through it high enough or long enough; you work out. Throw it...a workout. Again, the surface is an issue for slipping, especially of ice forms. But, working 💪🏾out in the snow is fantastic!

Wind 🌬. Annoying but very doable as it applies natural resistance. Pick your angles for applied resistance or assistance in skills such as, strength, plyometric, speed, endurance,and agility. Your balance gets tested well in the wind.

Natural Disasters 🌪🌀🌋 or earthquake (where is that emoji?). Easy instructions: Now is not the time to get in your workout. Dump the pumps for...a windy day. Common sense.

So the outdoor workout restrictions are minimal: weather related. You do not need to bring the entire gym outdoors with you. Bring the essentials:

Body Weight Day?...bring yourself.

Lower Extremity Day?...Bring a weight vest, a set of kettlebells or dumbbells. You can change between donning the vest and taking it off.

Upper Body Day?...Bring a set of DBs or KBs. You could even slip in a barbell with bumper plates - saw that a couple weeks ago. Med balls...sure. No need to bring everything. Pick two at the most, which is the gist for all of these categories. You could get away with three lighter toys (bands, med ball, jump rope, for example)

Agility and Speed Day?...Bring the bands you need for resistance and assistance. You can bring cones, but a lot of fields have enough lines and intersections to serve as zones or endpoints where cones would serve a purpose. 

Plyometrics Day?...If you can find a wall to jump on or off, then good. It is more ideal of that wall connects to grass. Then, you could jump and run. A wall at the bottom of a hill will get you better power to resistance results.

You get it, right?

If you want to pay to use a gym 🏋️‍♀️ in adjunct to outdoor training, then do it. That is a good combination. But, you can save money 💰 and achieve good results with outdoor workout regimens.

Last things...who wants to play? I will put your indoor conditioning workout versus an outdoor conditioning workout of mine. 

Before you do a body weight program, get your maximum numbers or max in 30 seconds. Why? Because when you workout at 80%, 90%, or 95% of your max in a set, you can make improvements better.

Get outdoors! Hydrate! Wear proper clothing - yes, that includes beach ⛱ attire. 

Derek | @teemptraining | derekteempt@gmail.com