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We just can’t make it to the gym some days, so why not use our beautiful yard space for some backyard exercises? Here we’ve highlighted 5 of the best backyard exercises to help kickstart your workout routine.
Some of our favorite backyard exercises cover both strength and cardio and can get the job done in less than an hour. Besides, in addition to getting your backyard workout in, you’ll be getting a nice boost of Vitamin D.
Best Backyard Exercises
Here we will give some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts that will provide you with maximum results in a short amount of time. All you need is a little space to have a quick and effective workout.
With HIIT, you torch calories, burn fat, and build muscles quickly. You can get a total body routine in with a just a few outdoor workouts.
The best part about these workouts is that its outdoors, and you’ll hardly need any equipment.
However, if you are experienced, you can start adding resistance bands, free weights, and medicine balls to your workouts.
This program is all about short bursts of challenging exercises.
Here are some other benefits of high-intensity interval training.
- You burn calories even after you’ve completed your exercise due to an increased metabolic rate.
- You can achieve more progress in mere 15 minutes (three times a week) than hours of steady jogging.
- Even with low-time commitment, you lose fat fast without any dietary changes.
- It increases metabolism and stimulates the production of human growth hormones.
- Five weeks of HIIT training also improves oxygen consumption by 9%.
Below are some best HIIT outdoor/backyard exercises for your entire body… Ready? HIIT it!
5 Best Backyard Exercises / Outdoor Workouts
1) Butt Kicks
Butt kicks are a great backyard exercise that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. The secondary muscle groups they target are abs, legs, arms, and back.
This exercise is a great training exercise for runners.
In this exercise, your hands are placed at the small of your back right above your hips. Stand tall and kick your feet up; try to tap your butt with your feet.
The best workout set is 30 seconds of butt kicks, ten deep, slow squats, and 40-second rest.
Do five sets, as they are enough to get your heart rate up.
You can also do butt kicks to prepare your body for a jog. While doing this HIIT exercise, make sure your shoulders are back, your abs are tight, and your chest is open. Also, try to maintain a steady and stable pace.
- Note: You can alternate butt kicks with high knees (left knee, right knee) to activate different leg muscles.
2) Jump Squats
Jump squats are a dynamic strength training exercise that challenges most of the muscles in your body.
The muscles targeted are in your lower body, such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, and adductor. It also targets your core muscles – abdomen, obliques, and erector spinae.
Starting position is standing position with you standing up straight with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Have hands at your chest, bend your knees, jump straight up into the air (legs straight), land with softly bent knees, and settle back into the squat position.
Tip: Make sure you get your legs extended straight on your jump for this workout. Also, make sure to keep your feet hip-width apart.
It is one of the most potent outdoor exercises; you exert maximum pressure on your muscles in a short interval. Do 20 jump squats and take 40 seconds of rest in a single set.
Opt for a 5 jump squat set daily.
3) Bench Push-Ups
There are many toning moves you can do on a bench. Bench Push-Ups are modified push-ups that take a little load off the wrists and are a great upper body workout. You can use a park bench style bench for this exercise.
Place your hands on the edge of the bench (wider than your shoulder distance), walk your feet out behind you until your legs are extended, lift onto your tiptoes, bend your arms, and lower your chest toward the bench (keep your elbows out to the side), then push up and back down.
Make sure you go down far enough to make less than a 90-degree angle with your arms.
If you are a beginner, perform at least ten push-ups before taking a break. Do five sets of bench push-ups.
Once you are comfortable with your form, associate a time with your push-ups set.
For example, aim to do push-ups quickly for straight 60 seconds and take a 40-second break between each set. Make sure your arms go to 90 degree angle and you extend your arms straight during your push up sequence.
Gradually increase the intensity of bench push-ups as you get stronger. You’ll also be able to increase resistance by finding a lower bench or eventually getting rid of the bench and starting in a plank position parallel to the ground.
Try to leave little to no rest between sets as you’re getting stronger.
4) Jump Rope
You will need a jump rope for this exercise, but this equipment is inexpensive and easy to store. This is probably my favorite outdoor workout.
You can get the rope online as well. The Wastou Brand offers a digital jump rope that has a calorie counter for training fitness. Its handles have a soft sweat-absorption foam padding to provide a firm grip.
A workout as old as time has proven to be effective over the years.
With this exercise, first, you have to master the basics.
Wear fitted athletic shoes, make sure the rope contacts the ground about six inches in front of you, and keep your elbow near your sides at all times.
Always make sure you’re doing this on a flat, stable, and gripped surface to avoid injury.
We recommend you do intervals of jump rope and sprints in combination. Do 20 seconds of jump rope, then sprint for 5 seconds; don’t rest between the jumps and the sprints.
After finishing the combo, rest for 30 seconds. Do ten combo reps each day.
Peter Schulman, MD, University of Connecticut Health Center, tells us that this jumping rope burns calories quickly and is also good for the heart. It raises your heart rate 2-3 times faster than other exercises.
For that reason, one should consider it as excellent cardiovascular training; you can do it in your backyard daily without any trouble.
5) Jumping Lunges
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and take a large step forward in a straight line with your right foot. Then, lean into a lunge and do a jumping lunge with a torso twist.
It is almost the same as walking lunges, but you twist your body to the right/left when you land.
You can increase the intensity of this exercise by jumping higher, but make sure you stay within the means of your age and fitness level to avoid injury.
It is an advanced variation of walking lunge; therefore, it is often considered a HIIT exercise. Make sure you alternate your front foot – switching between your right leg and left leg.
Jumping lunges have many benefits. It challenges your dynamic stability and coordination, gives you strong lean legs, targets the hip flexors and calves, and improves ankle stability.
It may also help to reduce body fat, improve your posture, and correct misalignments in your body.
Conclusion: Best Backyard Exercises
We hope this article has given you some ideas for how to get started with your workout routine. No matter what obstacle is in the way, just start today and stick with it!
You can try all these backyard-friendly HIIT exercises in your backyard and get some fresh air while you’re at it! These are great if you’re looking to build your full body strength.
They give you the freedom and power to exercise on your terms, and they have helped millions of people reach their fitness goals.
Professional trainers everywhere love them as well because these outdoor calorie-burning exercises can be adjusted to just about any level of expertise. Famous, big-name gyms like F45 and Orange Theory use them too.
So what do you say? Ready to start your outdoor workout regimen?