As the days get longer, and the sun shines brighter, we can safely say we’re springing into summer. If you’re feeling like us, it’s time to spruce up our workout to embrace the warmer weather. This is an opportunity for us to shift our exercise away from repetitive indoor routines (constrained by space) and into the great outdoors. To get started, all you need is fresh air and the motivation to try these below. Here are four workouts/ tips and tricks to help you get started:
Warm-Up Stretches:
It’s so important to ensure we stretch our body and our muscles before jumping straight into any workout routine. Stretching does so many things for us, but most importantly, it helps to prevent injuries, promotes circulation, and prepares our bodies for our home or gym-based workouts.
(If this is your first time working out after a long time, don’t worry, here are 5 ways you can avoid injuries)
When you find a comfortable spot outside, try this warm-up exercise. Start by slowly reach down to try and touch your toes. With the tip of your fingertips, reach your toes as far as you can. If you can’t reach past your knees or calves, that’s ok, with repetition and time, flexibility will come. This is common if you’re working out and warming out after a long time.
Squats: Lateral Squat
Squats are a great exercise to tackle outdoors, and there’s always a variety to shake up any leg day workout. One exercise we’re tackling outdoors is the lateral squat (or also known as the side-squat). This is a great exercise that emphasizes your quads, inner thighs, glute muscles, hamstrings, and calves.
To get started, stand with your feet at a hip-distance apart and slowly sink into a squat position by bending the knees. While you’re sitting at a squat position, step wide to one side (start with your dominant foot). Your non-dominant foot should remain in place. Move back into your center position, and then step wide in the other direction, and then revert to the center position.
Squat: Sumo Squat Into Jump
If the lateral squat wasn’t the exercise for you, we recommend trying the Sumo Squat. This squat is not only a great lower-body workout, but it’s also great to strengthen the core. To get started, you’ll need to keep your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, with your toes turned out at 45 degrees. Keep your hands clasp in front of your chest (to keep your core engaged) and sink your hips into a squat. When your hips are in line with your knees, hold that form, and as you rise from your squat, head into a jump.
Cool-Down:
Whether you spend your time exercising outdoors by hiking, cycling, doing a yoga class, or a leg workout – cooling down is essential to any workout. We recommend spending 10 minutes after any workout in the cooldown. These essential minutes lowers your chance of injury, promote blood flow, and reduces stress to your muscles.