Enjoying excercise in the great outdoors

10:38am Friday 9th May 2008

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WITH the weather improving, exercising outdoors is becoming far more appealing than a visit to the gym.

With a bit of imagination, you can recreate any exercises that you perform in your exercise classes, free-weights and machine based resistance programmes.

Local parks are the ideal work-out location, with benches, trees, steps and hills providing what you need for a mentally stimulating routine. Park environments enable us to perform all types of exercises.

Cardiovascular and endurance exercises, including brisk walking, cycling, jogging and mountain biking, will improve your heart and lung strength. If you are a beginner, start with 20 to 30 minutes of endurance training, 30 to 40 minutes for an intermediate and up to an hour if you are at an advanced level.

Aim for a perceived exertion rate of around five to seven - on a scale of one to ten, one is totally at rest and ten is completely exhausted. Around 5-7 should enable you to hold a conversation throughout your work-out, but feel challenging at the same time.

Interval training will test and strengthen your heart and lungs. You can perform hill runs at a brisk jogging pace for a minute - a slow jog back down the hill for two minutes can act as your recovery period. If you don't have a hill, you could sprint for a minute and jog for two minutes. Beginners should aim for six runs, intermediates should manage eight and advance trainers should be able to do ten. This type of training will massively enhance your cardiovascular fitness and boost your metabolism.

Circuit training will provide you with a challenging but fun workout. Break up your endurance training by stopping every few minutes and perform a variety of exercises that will provide you with greater strength, tone and agility.

For your arms, try bench press-ups. If you are a beginner, put your hands on the back of the bench to make the exercise easier. If you are intermediate level, put your hands on the lower level of the bench or do a normal press-up on the ground. If you are experienced, face downwards with your feet on the bench seat while you put your hands on the floor. Perform as many as you can two to three times and then continue your endurance training.

For your legs and bum, try walking lunges. Step forward one stride length, bending both knees to 90 degrees. Rise up, take another step forward and repeat the action. Continue this pattern for 12 to 20 lunges. Bench step-ups will also work the same muscles, Step fully up and down on to a park bench at a brisk pace, keeping your posture strong throughout. Aim for 12 to 20 steps on each leg.

For agility and power exercises, try shuttle runs and jumping exercises that you perform at speed. Place four cones around 2 metres apart. From the start go and touch each cone and return to the start before progressing to the next cone.

Christian Fox is a personal trainer, Sports massage therapist and nutritional advisor working in and around York. Phone 07711 871170 for your free session.