Trade In Shoes & Barbells

Building strong muscle does not always require picking things up and putting things down. In fact, the simple concept of resistance is sometimes all we need to create an environment to potentially gain strength. The next activity will require visiting your closest lake, state park or oceanic beach. In a snug pair of tennis shoes, take your running regimen to the sand and get to work. The sand provides an uneven surface where we must gain balance before pushing off and going forward. The extra effort taken to complete, say a forty-yard sprint, will wear you out in a positive fashion. Not only running exercises, but long jumps, cone drills for athletes can also improve lower body strength. If the waters are safe, you can enter into a foot deep and perform the same exercises against the resistance of the water and waves. While you’re at it, jump in the water and swim to add in some extra exercise as well. Be sure to know the body of water you’re adventuring into before engaging in deep water swimming.

Now that you’re back home we can revisit the recently carved firewood from earlier in the workout. In a similar fashion to the use and benefits of a medicine ball, make use of the wood by tossing the logs in the maximal distance possible. This may seem strange, but the weight of the logs will mimic that of a few pounds worth of medicine ball. Also with the logs, can come a carrying exercise that builds endurance. Similar to the log carry in a Tough Mudder obstacle course, take a log and hold it above your head. Engage in exercises such as lunges or lunges with twists. Depending on its weight and your craftsmanship, handles can be screwed into logs and the can be used for all sorts of activities such as bench press, triceps extension, skull-crushers, biceps curls, squats, deadlifts and many more – the possibilities are endless.

READ Feeding Your Addiction To Tough Mudder

The next time you find yourself indoors at the local gym looking through the windows at folks running or walking their dogs, imagine yourself outside doing exactly what you are inside the gym. It is not an impossibility but a creative way to euphorically exercise.