You’re tired of the stuffy gym, and you’re sick of following online yoga tutorials in your living room. Insert outdoor workouts, where tinny Top 40 remixes are replaced with singing birds, and your laptop screen is substituted for panoramic vistas.
Exercising outside offers the change of pace and scenery that you need to breathe some life into your workout routine. And you can still target specific muscle groups without gym machines or other specialized equipment. Case in point: this leg-toning workout that only requires the sorts of natural landscape features you’ll find in most parks or wooded areas.
Lateral Step-Up
Target: Side glutes
- Find a stump, rock or bench of suitable height and stand to one side of it.
- Step onto the stump with your inside foot, primarily using your inside leg.
- Keep your pelvis level as you push up to standing.
- Step down at half speed with your knee tracking forward.
2 sets of 8 to 10 per side
Stump Squat Jump
Target: Glutes, quads
- Stand facing a stump or rock of suitable height with a surface you can safely jump onto.
- With your feet shoulder-width apart, push your hips back and lower into a squat.
- Jump onto the stump from the squat position, landing with both feet.
- Keep your knees hip width apart as you take off and land.
- Step down.
2 sets of 10
Single-Leg Squat
Target: Glutes, quads
- Find a soft patch of land (like grass or sand).
- Stand on one leg with a straight pelvis (place your hands on your hips to check).
- Send your hips back and squat down as far as you can (maintain a level pelvis and keep your knee pointing straight forward).
- Return to starting position.
2 sets of 8 per leg
