Outdoor Boot Camp
Step-ups
Step-ups is a great butt and thigh exercise. This workout also challenges your stabilizer muscles and helps your balance and core strength. Tables and benches are an awesome outdoor boot camp prop, and can be found in most parks.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are all about shoulders, abs and legs. They incorporate your whole body and are a great addition to any outdoor boot camp workout. Although commonly used in military workouts, they are fast becoming a great addition to exercise classes across the board.
Walking Lunges
Lunges are an all-time favorite exercise for most trainers to throw into a leg fitness routine. They incorporate your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves into the mix. They can be done with or without weights and you must be careful to use proper form so as not to hurt your knees. You should put pressure in your front heel (so as to use your glute efficiently and not hurt your knees), and your back toe. This outdoor boot camp exercise can be done stationary, walking, forward, back, or lateral. It’s very versatile and a great thigh and butt toner.
Pushups
Pushups is one of the BEST exercises that can be done for strengthening your arms, shoulders, chest, and abs. Pushups should be added to any outdoor boot camp workout as they can be done with just you, no props needed. The more pushups you do, the more you will be able to do. If you are a beginner, you can start them up against a wall, then progress to a table, down to your knees, and finally to your feet. Do them wide, narrow, side to side, and declined (putting your feet on a bench). Try them all… you will be shocked to see the increase in strength you will achieve.
Jump Rope
Jump roping is fabulous as you can take it anywhere; improve your cardiovascular fitness with them, and work on strengthening your endurance of your legs and arms. This outdoor boot camp exercise can be done stationary, on the run, or used in intervals between other exercises. You can do them on two feet, one foot, or staggered. Start off with a few minutes, and then gradually increase the time as you get stronger.
Donkey Kicks
“Donkey kicks” are done in the all-four position and is done to work the glutes and hamstrings. You might think of it as an exercise from the 80’s, but it does the trick of tightening the booty and is a good outdoor boot camp exercise to add to your leg and butt workouts.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts are a great exercise for the butt and hamstrings, but must be done with care. If you round your shoulders and go all the way down to your feet, you will really feel your lower back, which is what we DO NOT want to feel. To do this exercise correctly you need to pull your shoulders back, pinch your shoulder blades together, and ONLY go down to a flat back and no further. Keep your knees softly bent, and you will feel it in the hamstrings if done correctly. Finally, pull your abs in and this exercise is a great addition to your outdoor boot camp plan to LIFT the butt.
