It’s July and now time to join mother nature in the beauty of training outdoors and better yet, train with a client outdoors. Most PTs out there working at a gym are guilty of training clients exclusively in the gym and you can come up with whatever excuse you like, from “the best equipment can be found on the gym floor” to “there’s not enough variety of exercises to use with clients outdoors”. Well to that, we would say that you’re working with a limited mindset. In one study conducted at the University of Michigan, students were given a brief memory test, then divided into two groups. One group took a walk around an arboretum, and the other took a walk down a city street. The results showed those who had walked among trees did almost 20% percent better than they had the first time. The people who had taken in city sights instead did not consistently improve. A similar study on depressed individuals found that walks in nature boosted working memory much more than walks in urban environments. So the benefits of just being outdoors coupled with the benefits of training can be propitious for client sessions, and we’re not going to dive into all the benefits, but we will walk through an excellent list of exercises you can use to incorporate into your PT session with a client outdoors so you can start reaping the benefits of the summer weather this year. Let’s get into it:
1. Hill Sprints
Most large parks will have a hill or two, unless if you’re in the Netherlands. But if you’re in London then you’re familiar with Parliament Hill and its steep incline on its way to to the top. That hill is a perfect example of how your next outdoor workout with a client can be stepped up, by using a hill to work on a client’s aerobic capacity and/or lower-body muscular endurance, feels like hell, but works like magic. Coupled with the hot weather and unpredictable terrain, your clients are going to be locked in for a real grinder, but if you pick a good location they might find a great view at the top as a reward!
2. HIIT On The Court – Suicides
Got a basketball, volleyball or tennis court nearby? Make it your personal gym with this super-effective HIIT workout for your next client session.
How it works: Use the outline of a basketball court (or a similarly sized court) to perform the infamous suicide drill used in basketball. Traditionally in Basketball, the drill begins at the end of a court on the line where a player will sprint to the free-throw line, then back to the start line, then sprint to the midpoint, then back to the start, then the opposite free throw line, then back to the start, then sprint to the end of the court and finally back to the start line which completes one suicide. You might expect to program this with rests in between each suicide combined with other exercises to make it a HIIT/circuit style workout, but go easy on them, it’s named accordingly.
3. Bench Burner
Every decent park has a bench and more often than not, there is one free. Find an empty bench have your client do step-ups on the bench for rounds. A great fat burner and a great way to work on coordination and agility, you could even have your client swap direction by beginning with their weaker foot first. Alternatively use the bench for other exercises such as tricep dips, elevated push-ups (a great regression exercise for beginner clients who cannot perform a push up), or box jumps onto the bench. Whatever you choose, have fun with it and you could end up creating a whole workout centred around a good ol’ park bench.
4. Trail Run
This one will require a bit more work from your end. Firstly you’ll want to do some research to see what’s around town, here is a list for London to get you started. Once you’ve found a potential trail you like, you’ll want to run its course before having a client run it, the reasons for this are two-fold: 1) To time and memorize its course, 2) To take mental notes for coaching points when you have your client run it. Once you’ve done this, you can surprise your client with an adventurous workout they’ll be sure to remember!
5. Lunge Off
This one is as simple as it sounds, a lunge off with a client can be a great competitive end to a workout and works best if you are doing a group/couple session. The essence of this exercise is essentially an all-out lunge walk until failure, firstly find as much open ground as possible, preferably on grass is a park to save the knees when it gets close to the end. Brutal, but effective. Want to go all-out? Throw some weight into it and see how far it goes.
So there you have it, out top exercises to use when training a client outdoors. You see, the exercises are almost endless and we just have you a taste of what you can do with a client outdoors. The outdoors really is a great place to take training and we really are beginning to see the outdoor fitness industry emerge in London, BUA FIT is a great example of this. BUA FIT is an app and one of London’s best outdoor group fitness class platforms. It is perfect for those who want to achieve their fitness goals away from a busy gym or studio. Group exercise is undoubtedly quite fun, social and very rewarding. The sessions are essentially on demand, at the park, along the river, or overlooking the city skyline. These are some of the places where BUA FIT can bring you on your fitness journey, be sure to check them out.
If you found this post insightful, why not check out some of our previous posts on our blog page or if you are interested in becoming a qualified personal trainer check out our main page for course information and if you have any questions feel free to email us at info@focusfitnessuk.com.
Written by Daniyal Siddiqui.