The playground workout

FINALLY, it’s starting to feel less like the middle of summer and more like the beginning of autumn…hurray! That means that you can take your workout to the outdoors without fear of heat exhaustion or stroke. If you want something different than basic body weight exercises when you work out, play around…on a playground! That’s right, you can use all sorts of super fun playthings to inflict a good hurt on your muscles. My husband and I took turns pushing our 2-year-old son in the swing while using the playground equipment ourselves on Sunday. Here’s a sample workout to build lean muscle while playing with your kids or crashing a playground party.

·         Jog to and/or around the park for a warm up

·         Decline pushups on a swing (can you say BURN…the instability of the swing forces you to use your core and legs like nobody’s business while working your upper body to the max)

·         Pull Ups…yep…the real deal. If you can’t do a full out pull up, grab a lower monkey bar and help with your legs just as much as you need to in order to get your chin above the bar

·         Dips off the slide. Get your elbows to 90 degrees before straightening them back up

·         Bench Step Ups…it’s like a more intense lunge…just step up onto a bench and then down again. Make sure your heel is completely on the bench and press through it to protect your knees

·         Incline sit ups or crunches on the slide…feet are going up the slide…hard, right?

·         Jog home and/or around the park for a cardio cool down

·         Stretch.

Enjoy!