The outdoors offers a few things you just can’t match with indoor training. First off, the quality of the air you breathe will be substantially better. The wind will hit you, keeping you cool. The sun will shine, helping you with your tan, vitamin D levels, and with just plain feeling alive. The variety of visual stimulus will take your mind off the intense workout, which will probably mean you’ll end up lifting more. Finally, training outdoors allows you to have a great deal more space. The parking lot or field near your home or gym offers plenty of room to do things you normally cannot do in the gym due to a lack of space.
Farmer’s walk
Pick up a heavy set of dumbbells and begin walking. Then, keep walking. Go 40 feet. Go 400 feet. Take them as long as you can. When you cannot walk or hold them anymore, stop and drop them. Wait a few minutes, then walk back to your starting point. This movement trains the thighs, hips, glutes, hamstrings, calves, forearms, and other muscle groups in the body. It’s one of the most simple and elementary of exercises, and also provides a good deal of functional strength which will matter in real life. If you can walk for more than 4 minutes on one set, add 20% to the weight and try again.
Walking lunges
This exercise is terrific for etching detail into the front thighs while at the same time hitting the calves and hamstrings. Carry out a pre-formatted (unchangeable) barbell which weights 40, 60, 80, or even 100 pounds. Put it onto your shoulders, and begin doing walking lunges. Bodybuilders such as Ronnie Coleman and Abbas Khatami have very famously completed this movement on their DVDs. They chose the traditional “gym parking lot” walk, but you can do it at your home if you prefer. Dumbbells work for this movement as well, although they can be a bit cumbersome should the knees bump them.
Sprints
Milos Sarcev, the famous bodybuilding training guru, recently sustained severe leg damage while using sprints for leg training. His heart and mind were in the right spot, but his 40+ knees just weren’t up to the task. If you’re a young and healthy person with no history of leg injury, give them a shot. They’ll stimulate the thighs tremendously, and give your hamstrings a great workout as well. Be prepared for soreness you have never experienced before in your life!
Weighted jumps
Looking for something new your calves have never experienced? Try weighted jumps. Grip a light dumbbell in each hand, and complete 10 to 20 standing jumps in grass. Leap as high as you can, and repeat!
Dane Fletcher is the world’s most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.
