Spring into an outdoor workout
When you’re outside in the green spaces of the great outdoors in nature, exercising doesn’t feel like such hard work, says Tracy Griffen in her new book, Get Fit and Enjoy It
First it’s snowdrops, crocii and the daffodils popping up, then the coconut smell of gorse heralds the welcome arrival of spring. With lengthening days and warmer nights, it’s a time to be outside: hear tweeting birds and witness buds on trees transforming into new growth. Some of us can be tentative coming out of hibernation, but slowly we come out, blinking, into the sunshine.
Exercising outdoors is not only a great way to improve your Vitamin D levels, but also moving through a greenspace has been proven to boost mood.
There are countless scientific studies on why exercising in nature is so good for you. I like this summary from the US National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website: “...outdoor natural environments may provide some of the best all-round health benefits by increasing physical activity levels with lower levels of perceived exertion (my italics) altering physiological functioning including stress reduction, restoring mental fatigue, and improving mood and self-esteem and perceived health. Thus, exercise within green spaces and the great outdoors may be a useful natural medicine to address health challenges facing developed countries.”
In other words when you’re outdoors in nature, exercising doesn’t feel like such hard work. Whether you’re appreciating the view, birdwatching or just enjoying some sunshine, perceived exertion (i.e. how difficult exercise feels) is lower. All good, then.
But what do you do when you get outdoors? It can be daunting going out and exercising, just you and your body. Some of us are anxious we’ll look silly or that people might stare, but one of the good things to come out of the last year is that there are a whole lot more folk exercising outdoors. Walking around in a circle has become de rigueur, just for something to do.
There are three types of exercise that we all need to do to stay fit and well. Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise gets your heart rate up, burns calories and can also boost your mood. Strength exercise involves putting your muscles under a challenge, to enable them to get stronger and more robust – this is often done from a gym, but there’s no reason why you can’t do strength outdoors or even at home. You can use your body weight as a resistance and you don’t necessarily need equipment. Finally, stretching, or flexibility exercises will help you recover quicker, can help ease muscle soreness and even improve your posture. If you’re out for a walk, make it a quickish (aerobic, so you feel puffed) outing, and include strength exercises in a park or greenspace.
Here are my favourite strength exercises to do in the great outdoors: Warm up with some fast walking or jogging, to get the blood pumping and get ready for action.
Stop at an unoccupied park bench, and try some press ups on the back (see photo). Stand behind the bench with a wide hand grip, bend the elbows and lower your chest towards the back of the bench. You can bend at the waist to make it easier. I like the standing press-up variation to avoid muddy knees! Start with 10 repetitions and build up to 25.
Move to the front of the bench. Sitting on the bench, put your hands on the bench either side of your hips, fingers facing forward. Take your weight off the bench and bend the elbows into a triceps dip . This is a tough exercise, but it’s excellent for tackling saggy ‘bingo wings’, your triceps. Start with 10 repetitions and build up to 25.
To break things up, you can fast walk or jog to another bench to do a second set. Part of the fun of exercising in a public park is that you get to meet a lot of dogs and friendly people.
When using a park bench for exercise, be mindful of other park users and how long you occupy the bench for. I usually carry antibac gel and a small travel towel to wipe the bench, in a compact backpack, with my water bottle and phone. The good thing about not carrying much equipment is that you can easily move around a park with your workout. Portable equipment that you can pop in a backpack includes a skipping rope and resistance bands or tubes. Rubber resistance is cheap, portable and easy to use – it will give you extra variety if you wish. Wear zippered layers so you can ventilate as you warm up, I wear clothes I’m comfortable in, no need for Lycra (unless you really want to).
After you’ve done some upper body strength, it’s time to find a scenic spot for leg strength exercises. You might think your legs are already getting fitness from walking/running. However, to tone the thighs and alleviate twinges and niggles, add leg strength to your workout.
Squats are my all time favourite exercise as they tone the thighs and shape the butt. Kardashians, eat your heart out! Your gluteus maximus is your bottom, the biggest muscle group in the body that most of us spend too much time sitting on. To squat effectively, start with your feet hip-width apart and relatively parallel. Stick your butt out as if you’re sitting down onto a small chair, with weight going into your heels.
Sit down as far is comfortable, ideally so your thighs are about parallel to the ground, then slowly stand up. When you stand up, think about using the back of your legs and finish with a slight ‘bum squeeze’, that means you stand up by squeezing your glutes, rather than locking out your knees.
Lunges are another excellent leg strength exercise that works
Whether you’re appreciating the view, birdwatching or just enjoying some sunshine, perceived exertion is lower
your quadriceps (front of thigh). Your quads are your hill-walking muscle, you can strengthen quads by walking up stairs two at a time, or doing lunges (or do both). To do a lunge safely, spend time on the setup. Start with feet hip-width apart then take a big step forward with one foot. It should be a long enough stride that your back heel is elevated, with both legs straight. Bend your back leg towards the ground down in a lunge. Stay on one side and try 10 repetitions, then swap leg.
You can use steps and tree stumps for balancing exercises. Get creative and try different movements in different locations, run, jump and skip and enjoy the fresh air. Some urban parks nowadays have outdoor gyms, start with a minute on each station and build up from there.
Once you’ve had an invigorating outdoor workout, enjoy some stretches at home, and start planning your next green outing. If you’d like to know more simple exercises you can do anywhere, including the butttastic ‘Buns of Steel’, flexibility and more on aerobic exercise, please do check out my new book.