The Daily News – Fit to Be Tried by Devin Sherrington
You wouldn’t believe how many times people say to me, “Devin, I just hate coming to the gym when it’s so nice outside. I haven’t worked out in two weeks.” I always reply the same way. “Then stay outside.”
A few words of caution: never train outside during the hottest part of the day, always drink plenty of water, and wear sunscreen. Otherwise your good intentions could wind up causing serious health problems.
Most people think the only outside exercise is jogging or walking. But there are better ways to burn fat than those two alone. One is interval training.
Interval training means periods of high intensity exercise, followed by periods of low intensity exercise. Basically you switch back and forth between these two to make your workout more difficult.
Interval training has been around for several years, and is often used by people to ramp up their training to new levels. Making the training more intense, while getting more results.
The easiest way to do interval training outdoors is to count telephone poles. After you’ve warmed up at a comfortable walk for about five minutes, begin at a telephone pole, which we’ll call pole one.
Walk briskly to the second pole, making sure to swing your arms and take long strides. When you reach the second telephone pole, run to the third pole. This doesn’t have to be an outright sprint, but a fairly quick jog.
Don’t kill yourself. This gets harder.
At the third pole, slow to a brisk walk again, which will allow you to catch your breath somewhat, and slow your heart rate. Walk briskly until you reach the fourth pole.
From there, run to the fifth pole, then slow down and walk to the sixth. This is repeated for as long as you want to workout. I tell most people to try it for 10 to 15 minutes to begin, and work up to more as you feel able.
You don’t have to run if you don’t feel ready or have a health condition. Walking normally, and then speeding up to a brisk walk will work your body in a similar way, just not quite as intensely.
The key is to know what you can handle, and to work up from there. The important thing is to change the speed between slow and fast as you reach different poles.
It may sound easy, but trust me — it’s not. This will be one of the hardest and most beneficial, workouts you’ve ever done. Plus it will make running and walking outside more interesting.
So go out and give it a try. I promise you’ll love it.
