Take it Outside 

AMC Outdoors, September 2007

Worthy workouts in the outdoors

Not too long ago, time spent in the gym largely focused on isolating large and specific muscles to work them. You’d sit with a dumbbell in hand before a slant-perform an untold number of curls to specifically build biceps. Then you’d spend time focusing on triceps, the opposing muscle group, before working your way down the body. Inevitably, certain muscles would get missed, which is partially why the paradigm has shifted—returning to a more basic exercise regimen that harks back to gym class or, for some, boot camp. Whole-body exercises that work multiple muscles with a single motion are being touted for their increased efficiency and ability to decrease injury by working small muscles that might otherwise be overlooked. And many of them don’t require much in the way of apparatus, which means you can do them just about anywhere—even outdoors.

PUSH-UPS Macho comparisons of who can bench press what weight are long gone. Rather than rippling pectoral muscles, overall strength throughout one’s body seems to be the latest gym-think, which is why push-ups—the inverted opposite of the bench press—have gained prominence in more enlightened exercise circles. Pectorals, triceps, deltoids, abdominals, hip flexors, and much of your back get worked while performing this garden-variety exercise in any setting. Rather than staring at CNN, you can watch the sunset between sets.

PULL-UPS In elementary school gym class, it was one of the tasks you had to complete to get the Presidential Physical Fitness Award (by age 10, boys must do six and girls must do three to be within the 85th percentile). And yet, pull-ups remain one of the leading ways to work multiple muscles—deltoids, trapeziuses, rhomboids, and lats—in one fell swoop. Can’t do multiple repetitions? According to Stew Smith, author of The Complete Guide to Navy Seal Fitness, you should try “negatives” that involve starting with your chin above the bar with the use of a bench and then lowering yourself down.

CRUNCHES It’s hard to imagine an era where exercise enthusiasts have not been abs-focused. And the notion of building core strength, which includes multiple areas of the stomach, couldn’t be more popular. It’s the topic of conversation in yoga classes, fitness centers, and physical therapy offices. But typical sit-ups are limiting. Diagonal crunches (lie on your back and, with your hands behind your head, reach for your opposite knee with your elbow) work lateral abdominals near your so-called “love handles” in addition to your front abdominals, affectionately referred to as the “six pack.” Knock them out trailside, and once it becomes regimented, carrying your pack long distances will be less of a back-busting affair.

—By Christopher Percy Collier