The outdoor workout

Ever wish you could ditch the gym and work out in the park? Think sun, sweat, and a simpler approach to a fit body-no barbells, machines, or sanitizing wipes. It mixes fast-paced body weight exercises with maximum-effort cardio to torch calories and boost your metabolism. All that fresh air, too. Which is especially good, because once you start this workout, you’ll be gasping for O2.

THE WARMUP

Do the warmup exercises in the order shown, without resting. This routine not only gets your blood flowing, warms your muscles, and improves your mobility, but also ensures that you’ll perform your best during the actual workout. The benefit: faster results.

1. JOG
   Run at an easy pace for 400 metres. Keep your hands relaxed, elbows bent, and shoulders down, and swing your arms back and forth as you move forward. 
   
    
2. HIGH KNEES
   Run for 50 metres while raising your knees as high as you can. Drive through the balls of your feet and focus on not allowing your lower back to round as you raise your knees. Keep your hands relaxed, elbows bent, and shoulders down, and swing your arms back and forth.
    
3. POWER SKIPS
   Skip for 50 metres, but use the athletic version of the movement: Simultaneously rise up on your left toes, lift your right knee as high as you can, and swing your left arm forward as you swing your right arm back (both elbows should be bent). Each time you land, immediately repeat with the opposite arm and leg.
4. SIDE SHUFFLE
   Stand in an athletic stance as shown. Shuffle to your left by moving one foot and then the other. Once you’ve gone 50 metres, shuffle to your right for another 50 metres.

 


THE WORKOUT

JUMP SQUAT
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands on your hips or clasped next to your chest. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then jump as high as you can. Land, and then immediately squat and jump again. Each jump counts as 1 rep.



MOUNTAIN CLIMBER TO PUSHUP
Assume a pushup position with your arms straight. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. Without allowing your lower-back posture to change, lift your right foot off the ground and move your right knee toward your chest. Return to the starting position, and repeat with your left leg. That’s a mountain climber. Now do a pushup. That’s 1 rep.


SHUTTLE SPRINTS
Mark off a clear area that’s about 10 metres from one point to the other. It could be on a running path or an open field. Sprint back and forth from point to point 10 times.


BODY-WEIGHT REVERSE LUNGE
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your hips. Keeping your torso upright, step backward with your left foot and lower your body until your front knee is bent at least 90 degrees and your back knee almost touching the ground. Push yourself back to the starting position, and repeat. That’s 1 repetition. After you’ve done 10 reps, repeat by stepping back with your right leg.




SQUAT THRUSTS
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bending at your hips and knees, lower your body into a squat until you can place your palms on the ground. Kick your legs backward, and then reverse the move and pull your legs back to the squat position. Then quickly stand up. That’s 1 rep.




SHUTTLE SPRINTS
Mark off a clear area that’s about 10 metres from one point to the other. It could be on a running path or an open field. Sprint back and forth from point to point 10 times.

1. Do 10 repetitions of the jump squat, followed by 10 repetitions of the mountain climber to pushup. That’s 1 set. Rest if you need to, but as briefly as you can. Once you’ve done 4 sets, rest 90 seconds and move to Station 2.
2. Do 1 set of shuttle sprints, rest 90 seconds, and move on to station 3.
3. Do 10 repetitions each leg of the body-weight reverse lunge, and follow that up with 10 repetitions of the squat thrust. That’s 1 set. Rest if you need to, but as briefly as you can. Once you’ve done 4 sets, rest 90 seconds and move on to Station 4.
4. Finish with 1 set of shuttle sprints.

-JOJO-