Are you looking for somewhere to work yourself into a sweat, switch off and regenerate? Then why not go to the woods – they’re places of natural beauty where you can do all of those things and much more besides. Many studies show that walking in the woods has a positive impact on our health. Because a wood offers an experience for the senses, particularly now in springtime. The birds are twittering, a light breeze is wafting through the branches, the trees are swaying gently in the wind, and the rich green is a feast for the eyes.
Sunburn, no thanks! The top priority for anyone who wants to do outdoor sport is good sun protection. FRESH sunscreen protects your skin during any outdoor activity. The waterproof and nano-free SPF 20 formulation contains only natural, mineral sun protection filters.
What are the advantages of movement and exercise
in the great outdoors compared with the gym?
#1 Because the ground is uneven, the muscles get more exercise, and they’re used in a more varied way.
#2 The different types of ground in the woods are particularly good for training balance and improving both motor skills and coordination.
#3 The unfamiliar and uneven terrain turns us into adventurers, and we try out new movements both consciously and unconsciously.
#4 Our perceptiveness is sharpened and trained by the changing surroundings.
#5 The beauty of nature and the sounds we hear outdoors distract us from the strenuous effort of training.
#6 Too cold, too hot, too windy: external influences may be unpleasant, but exposing ourselves to sun, wind and weather strengthens our immune defences.
#7 The fresh forest air is good for us. It stimulates the supply of energy to the cells and boosts our metabolism.
Exercises you can do anywhere:
The classics for outdoor training are running, cycling and hiking. And you don’t need much to do them apart from good footwear. Obviously, if you want to cycle, you’ll need a bike but you can also hire one. The countryside, forests and mountains have so many running, hiking and cycling trails just waiting to be explored.
Don’t fancy any of the three classic outdoor sports?
No worries. Maybe our forest circuit training is what you’re looking for. There are lots of different exercises that you can perform entirely without equipment. They are ideal for training in the woods. We’ve put together a few of them here. One thing to remember:
Circuit training means a sequence of exercises, each of which should be performed briefly using all your strength. 💪🏼
In short: do as many repetitions as you can manage in a short time. Essentially, you take a break of between 15 and 60 seconds before moving on straight away to the next exercise. Before starting your forest circuit training, do a little warm-up to get your muscles, sinews and tendons ready for exercise. And now you’re ready to get going. The only “equipment” you need is a big tree trunk or a bench.
1) Jumping jacks: Stand up straight with your feet together and arms at your sides. Starting from this position, you jump, spreading your legs out to the side until your feet are out further than your shoulders. At the same time, raise and stretch your arms upwards. Then you jump back to the starting position. What’s important here is that when you jump outwards, your knees stay straight.
2) Knee bends: Stand straight with your feet roughly in line with your shoulders. Put your weight on your heels (if you can move your toes in this position, you’re standing correctly). Your feet and your knees are pointing in the same direction. Now extend your hands forward while looking straight ahead, and squat down by pushing your bottom backwards. The aim is to go into a very deep squat. Then push yourself back up using the strength of your heels, making sure to tighten up your spinal erector muscles.
3) Dips on a tree trunk: Support yourself on the tree trunk with both hands behind you and extend your legs fully in front of you. Now lift your pelvis upwards until your trunk and legs form a straight line. Now bend your arms and lower your bottom towards the ground, while keeping your legs straight. Then return to the starting position.
4) High knees: Run on the spot, getting your knees up as high as possible.
5) Lunge: Stand up straight and then with one leg take a big step backwards. Now bend your front leg and lower your back knee towards the ground until your back calf is parallel with the ground. You then use your back leg to push yourself back up again. Bring the back leg forwards until your feet are level with each other again. Now repeat the exercise with the other leg.
6) Press-ups on a tree trunk: Put your hands on the tree trunk so they are in line with your shoulders and make sure your head is in line with your spine. Your body is straight, your feet are on the ground. Now bend your arms and lower your extended body until your almost touch the tree trunk with your chest. Now straighten your arms again. This exercise is particularly good for strengthening your chest muscles and your shoulders.
7) Step-ups: Stand facing a bench or a bench-high tree trunk and put your hands on your hips. Now step up onto the given obstacle with one leg, while keeping the other leg straight. Naturally, you can do several repetitions with each leg before switching over to the other one.
Good to know
Circuit training is ideal for both indoor and outdoor workouts. It boosts strength, endurance, speed, agility and coordination. It also stimulates fat-burning and has what is known as an afterburn effect. This means that fat-burning continues to happen at an increased rate long after you’ve actually stopped exercising.
And now, enough’s enough –
get yourself out into the fresh air!
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