The Outdoor Gym
Stuck in a rut? Go outside. There’s no better place to get fit than in Mother Nature’s midst. Ready to take on her challenge?
Photographs by Bahaghari MFI; Shot on location at Camp John Hay, Baguio City
Cool weather, fresh air and natural obstacle courses. Do you really want to be among glaring fluorescent lights, sweaty treadmills and 100 other like-minded men? Why not take your exercise regimen into a park or nature reserve, or maybe where you and your friends had your first boyhood adventures? The difference this time is that you’re not playing hide and seek or trying to impress girls with BMX stunts—you’re there for an intense workout.
The next few pages feature an outdoor workout, designed to develop strength, coordination, and explosive power using everything that nature has to offer. Forget the hot, sticky gym and the queues for a stationary bike. Our power sessions will propel you towards peak performance, right down to the last muscle. The best bit? It’s free.
Outdoor Adventure
Leave the beaten track and head for the bush. Don’t plan your route. Instead, let your gut feeling lead you. Be spontaneous about your training intensity and simply integrate your natural surroundings into your muscle-building routine.
Hardcore exercisers will race from one challenge to the next: strong branches become chin-up stations; ditches can be cleared with explosive leaps. Use logs as bench-press weights and grueling uphill stretches will challenge your quads, calves and glutes. The effect is twofold: you’ll not only burn fat, but also bid farewell to your boring, old training regime.
20 Minutes is All it Takes
Peak performance needs more than strength alone. So we’ve compiled the following exercises to cover the four main elements of fitness and create a demanding muscle-building routine. Think of these as your workout base—the way you structure the rest of your routine is limited only by your imagination. You will see results with just 20 minutes of training, but go harder and your muscles will respond.
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Strength (STR) Give it your all. At the end of each exercise, your muscles should be completely spent. |
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Explosive power (POW) The important thing here is execution: the shorter your contact with the ground the better. |
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Coordination (COD) To build strength, you must engage all the muscles involved in a movement, so spend at least 1-2 minutes on each exercise. |
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Relaxation (REL) For quick recovery, finish your training session with a relaxation exercise. |
» Fitness archive
Men's Health Philippines - April 2006 Issue
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WARM-UP (COD)
Warm-up with a 10-minute jog, then step up the tempo. It’s up to you how fast and for how long you run. If you’re new to running, sprint for at least 30 seconds, but for no longer than three minutes.
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