From the Heart and Stroke Foundation
Are you ready for a change of pace? Being active outdoors allows you to breathe fresh air, get much-needed sunshine and may even give you a renewed sense of motivation. All you have to do is use what's in your neighbourhood or local park – slides, swings, benches and yes, even the monkey bars.
Get back to nature with these simple and effective activities and keep your physical activity program interesting and enjoyable. All it takes is a little imagination.
Pump up your heart
- Walking/ Running intervals You can vary your intervals by sprinting or jogging for 20 seconds and then walking 20 seconds.
- Hill walking/running Make good use of any hills or mounds to sprint uphill. Really pump your arms to get up there. Walk back down.
- Markers Use trees, telephone poles and street signs as markers. Run/walk to the first (closest) mark, sprint back. Then run/walk to the 2nd marker (a little further away) and back to the start point, and so on. Use 3 or 4 progressive markers.
Bodyweight strength exercises
- Squats Stand with your feet hip-width apart, squat by bending your knees so that your thighs are parallel to the ground, but don't allow your knees to go further forward than your toes.
- Lunges Take a big step forward with the right foot and lower into a lunge (keeping the front knee behind the toe), step the left foot next to the right and then into a lunge on the left side.
- Push-ups You can push up against anything – the ground, a bar, a bench, a tree. Or, for added intensity, you can do a push-up with your feet on a raised platform, for example, the bottom of a slide.
- Step-ups Find any platform you can step on to. Step on and off with alternate legs. For power, go for a smaller platform but do fast steps. For strength, choose a higher platform and keep it slow and controlled.
- Pull-ups. Use any bar that you can reach and grip, like a playground's monkey bars. Try your first pull up. It may be tough, and one is great to start out with, but add more over your next workouts.
- Jumps Try jumping jacks, scissor jumps (alternating right and left feet forward) two-footed jumps (on flat ground and up steps), long jumps, jumps on and off a platform, jumps into squats, and hopping on one foot.
Try this 30-minute workout. Remember to choose beginner, intermediate or advanced to match your current level of fitness.
Time |
Activity |
|
5 minutes |
Warm up – slow walking. |
|
2 minutes |
Walk briskly or jog |
|
1 minute |
Walking lunges |
|
1 minute |
Speed walk or run |
|
1 minute |
Walk or jog |
|
1 minute |
Markers |
|
3 minutes |
Walk briskly or jog |
|
1 minute |
Tree push-ups |
|
1 minute |
Scissor jumps |
|
1 minute |
Speed walk or run |
|
3 minutes |
Walk or jog |
|
1 minute |
Long jumps |
|
1 minute |
Speed walk or run |
|
3 minutes |
Walk or jog |
|
5 minutes |
Cool down with an easy walk. |
Before starting any activity program, be sure to talk to your doctor or other healthcare professional.
This physical activity column was written by a Certified Personal Trainer Professional and Fitness Instructor and reviewed by a specialist in kinesiology.
Posted: April 2010
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