Everyone loves a great gym Workout; nothing feels quite like a heavy bench or personal-best squat, but occasionally it’s nice to mix it up a bit and workout outside.  This couldn’t be truer than right now, with temperatures finally dropping a bit in many parts of the country.  But many times it can be difficult to program a workout outside, especially when you don’t really know what equipment or terrain you’re going to be working with.  Here are three suggestions to help you configure the perfect outside workout: 1. Use Your Surroundings This one may seem obvious, as if you could use anything else, but what I’m getting at is to be as creative as possible with what you have to work with.  Do you have a hill? Great, do hill sprints.  Do you have sand?  Awesome, perform some sprint drills through it.  Are you at the beach?  Good, incorporate a shallow ocean run.  The point is that no matter where you are, you can always incorporate the terrain to help build a better workout. 2. Mix It Up When we think of outside exercise, the first thing that comes to mind is usually distance running or jogging.  Although some steady state cardio like running is definitely good to do, it’s not your only option when it comes to outside exercise.  Once again you need to get creative and incorporate sprints, push-ups, and even pull-ups or inverted rows to your workout. Sprints are helpful because they help boost your metabolism, which means that you will burn more calories throughout the day compared to if you only did steady-state work.  Additionally, doing sprints can boost hormone levels that help you build muscle, making them one of the most efficient exercises you can do. 3. Bring Equipment If running is typically the only way you exercise outside, maybe you can mix it up and bike instead.  Or, if you really want to get creative bring a pair of suspension bands such as TRX with you and find a secure place to mount them.  Once you have your spot picked out, you can perform any of the suspension band exercises that you would normally do in the gym.  If you don’t have any extra equipment but want to get a great outdoor workout in right now, try this:

Exercise	Distance/Reps
Warm-up Run	Half Mile
Clap Push-ups	5
Sprint	50 Yards
Regular push-ups	5
Cool down Run	Half Mile

The best places to perform this workout are at a park, beach, or any other large area that you can find a flat area to perform sprints.  Start by jogging about half a mile to the area that you want to perform the workout.  Once you arrive, make a mark as a starting point, and then walk off 50 yards and mark an end point.  Walk back to the starting point; now you’re ready to begin the workout.  Drop to the ground and complete 5 plyo (clap) push-ups (if you are unable to do clap push-ups, just do regular ones). Immediately following the fifth push-up, jump up and sprint to the end mark at 50 yards.  Upon reaching the end point, drop and complete 5 regular push-ups then walk back to the starting point, that’s one round.  Complete 5 total rounds then jog back to the original starting point as a cool-down. Exercising outside should be fun and creative, yet still challenging.  By incorporating your surroundings, getting creative with your exercises, and bringing some equipment on occasion, you can create a really awesome outdoor workout!  Stuck on what you should do for your next workout? Contact your GymCloud online personal trainer for a custom outdoor workout plan.

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