Find Fitness Freedom in a Day at the Park
“When you’re inside, you tend to focus on your breathing and how miserable you may be feeling. Thirty minutes trudging along on the treadmill seems like an eternity. But outside, you can ignore your body’s reaction because you’re distracted by your surroundings.”
JOHN PORCARI
Professor, University of Wisconsin
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On a recent business trip to Hong Kong, I awoke early one morning and tried to decide whether to go back to sleep, sample the buffet breakfast, or head to the hotel gym for a workout.
Opening the drapes to get a glimpse of the city, I became fascinated by the sight of a handful of people exercising in a park 10 stories below my hotel room. I watched as they performed graceful tai-chi moves while walkers strode purposefully by as the city surrounding this beautiful park slowly began its busy day. Postponing breakfast, I quickly put on my running shoes and headed to the park.
When was the last time you stepped outside to discover a park oasis within the city? Cars, elevators, automatic doors, computers and other conveniences make it less necessary for us be active. But moving our workouts into a park can help counter our inactivity and give us a taste of the outdoors.
Warmer weather and longer daylight hours invite us to explore paths of spring renewal for body and soul. A recent study at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse suggests that people may work out harder and longer outdoors than they do indoors. Exercising outside seems to stimulate us to unconsciously walk faster. Your body will work harder--without feeling as if it is.
“When you’re inside, you tend to focus on your breathing and how miserable you may be feeling,” says John Porcari, a professor in the department of exercise and sports science at the University of Wisconsin. “Thirty minutes trudging along on the treadmill seems like an eternity. But outside, you can ignore your body’s reaction because you’re distracted by your surroundings.”
That’s why an hour striding around a park flies by. Park workouts set the stage for more freedom, adventure and the pleasures of cross-training, and they can help us boost our metabolism by allowing us to do a variety of exercises in the same setting.
Los Angeles is known to the rest of the country as the city for fitness, and there are plenty of first-rate outdoor recreation spots to prove it. You can run the stairs near 4th Street in Santa Monica, take a hike in Runyon Canyon, walk along the Santa Monica-to-Torrance footpath, or head out to Griffith Park or Elysian Park for a few sit-ups and stretches.
When you go outside, you might want to add these strength training moves to round out your routine. You won’t need weights or machines.
Push-ups: For chest, shoulders and arms, the simplest way to do a push-up in the park is to find a park bench, place your hands on the bench shoulder-width apart. Keep your fingers pointed forward, and position yourself either on your knees or on your toes (using your knees is much easier). Then bend your elbows out to the side and lower your upper body. Squeeze your chest as you push back up, and be sure not to lock out your elbows at the top. Try three to five repetitions. Rest and repeat.
Squats: A good exercise for hamstrings, quads and glutes. Stand in front of a park bench facing away from it. Stretch your arms forward for balance. Slowly bend your knees, sit on the bench, then slowly stand up, using your leg muscles. Try five to 10 reps. Rest and repeat.
Whether you choose to mountain-bike on a park path, walk among the trees or climb the bluffs on the beach, parks get us away from the city pavement and encourage us to shake up our fitness routine.
Stephanie Oakes is the fitness correspondent for Discovery Health Channel. She can be reached at stephoakes@aol.com. Her column appears the fourth Monday of each month.