Now that stay-at-home restrictions are easing, those
of us interested in strong, healthy muscles but wearied by burpees in the
living room may want to consider heading to the nearest reopened park or
playground for weight training. Experts note that you can perform most standard
exercises there if you are willing to use your imagination — you can even
recruit your children to help as giggling, resistance-adding workout partners.
What follows are a few moves for a full-body, sun-drenched routine. (Wear a
face mask, observe social distancing and use gloves or hand sanitizer to
protect yourself and others, of course.)
اضافة اعلان
For a lower-body workout, find a tree trunk
In the park, look for a tree narrow enough to encircle with
your arms. Hug it. Then squat, bottom out, knees bent to almost 90 degrees.
Hold a few seconds and repeat the full squat or pulse shorter ones, moving up
and down rapidly a few inches at a time. As Dannah Bollig, a personal trainer
in Chicago and a former Division I soccer player, explained, “You just took
your barre class outside” and worked muscles in your thighs and backside. You
can perform the same exercise using a basketball hoop or light pole, she said.
Use a park bench as a step stool or dip bar
Instead of lounging on it, a park bench (in good repair) can
be used for “stepups, box jumps and hands-elevated pushups,” said Adam Rosante,
a New York-based personal trainer. In non-gym jargon: Face the bench and
rapidly step onto and off it, first with one foot and then the other. The fit
and well-coordinated might try it with both feet together, hopping.
For upper-body strengthening, face the bench from far enough
away that when you lean against it, your arms and back are straight. Lower
yourself toward the bench by bending your elbows until your chest almost
touches the bench. Push back up. Repeat until your upper arms start to wobble
like noodles.
Park benches and low playground equipment also work well for
dips, which strengthen the upper-arm muscles, said Jeremy Loenneke, an
assistant professor of health, exercise and recreation science at the
University of Mississippi in Oxford. Situate yourself at one end, back to the
bench, with your arms holding the edge of the bench behind you. Then lower
yourself until your elbows are bent to about 90 degrees. “The movement can be
made easier by bringing the feet closer,” Loenneke said, “or more difficult by
walking the feet out farther.”
Head to the monkey bars
One of the best resistance exercises, pullups work your
entire upper body and midsection. You could use tree branches, but their health
and carrying power can be suspect, so better to head for the monkey bars at the
playground. (You should also check with your local parks and recreation
department to find out if public playgrounds have reopened and whether adults
are welcome.) Grab the bar about shoulder-width apart, palms facing out, and
pull yourself up. (Here’s a good playtime opportunity for toddlers who are
game: For greater resistance, swing your little one onto your shoulders before
starting, creating a piggyback pullup, said Simon Walker, a professor of
exercise science at the
University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. Afterward, perhaps,
drop down gently and try some piggyback pushups, he said.)
If you cannot complete a pullup — and many of us cannot —
try lifting both of your legs while you hang from the bars, Bollig said, either
with or without your knees bent, which works the upper body and midsection.
Tire yourself out with a tire swing
Finally, bear in mind that to our muscles, weight is weight,
Walker pointed out, whether it comes in the form of a barbell or a boulder —
our biceps, glutes, quads and other muscles will strengthen and grow similarly
in response to lifting either. So look for natural weights in the park or
playground, including branches, logs and stones. Heft them “the way you would
dumbbells or kettlebells,” Rosante said. “Use them to add weight on a variety
of squats, lunges, hip thrusts and overhead presses.” If you hold a rock in
each hand during these moves, make sure that they are of about the same weight,
for balance.
Tire swings, too, can double as dumbbells, Rosante pointed
out.
Hold the tire by your side with one hand and shrug your
shoulder up, for a “single-arm shrug”; or stand sideways to it, grasp, twist
and raise it for “low to high woodchoppers”; or pass it to a partner like a
medicine ball.
And should all of these exercises start to become easy and
familiar, “set a timer for 10 minutes and see how many times you can make it
through the entire playground,” Rosante suggested, a
workout that should
challenge the fittest and be, he said, “seriously fun.”
Read more
Lifestyle
.jpg)
.jpg)
