Today’s workout was the epitome of everything EarthFit stands for. We went to the Nature Park that is right across the street, and finished a grueling 90 minute workout. But it was perfect! Perfect challenge. Perfect setting. Just perfect!
There are a ton of trails at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park. We decided to hit the main trail and just “stay left”. Whenever we hit a fork in the trail, we veered left. So, by going around the entire trail, we jogged about 4.5 miles.
A 4.5 mile jog isn’t a bad workout in and of itself. But wait, we did MORE! Every time we came across a bench, we did a bench incorporated bodyweight exercise. I would have taken a picture of our workout card, but we were so sweaty at the end of our workout, the words were runny on the card.
Connecting to Nature in Fitness workout
- 1st bench- 50 calf raises (on the bench)
- 2nd bench- 20 dips
- 3rd “bench” a cluster of logs- 15 each leg Stationary single “carousel” lunges
- 4th- 10 decline push-ups
- 5th- 50 Mountain climbers
- 6th- 20 Step-ups
- 7th- 25 Box squats
- 8th- 50 Toe touch jogs
- 9th- 30 Incline push-ups
- 10th- 50 Sidewinders
- 11th- 20 Pistol box squats
- 12th- 25 Box squat jacks
- 13th- 50 Russian twists (Chris and I made this partner oriented by passing the water bottle back and forth between us- more entertaining this way)
- 14th- 20 Sitting V-ups/leg lifts
- 15th- 30 modified Burpees
- 16th- started over with 50 calf raises
- 17th- 20 dips
- 18th- 15 each carousel lunges
- 19th- 10 Decline push-ups
- 20th- 50 Mountain climbers
- 21st- 20 step-ups
- 22nd- 25 Box squats
- 23rd- 50 toe touch jogs
- 24th- 30 Incline push-ups
And then we finally made it out. Alive. Barely.
What made this workout so special wasn’t that there was no one else at the park. There were quite a few people we passed. The jogging was so much better on the natural substrate. Being IN the woods made the workout naturally cooler. It didn’t FEEL crowded. I felt exhausted at the end of the workout, but also exhilarated. My favorite part was seeing wildlife while working out. We saw a small family of deer while jogging through a quiet area of the forest. Several bunnies crossed our path. A downy woodpecker swooped down right in front of us while we were doing our first set of step-ups. We heard a chorus of frogs, Stellar Jays, and squirrels. It was like working out with Sleeping Beauty and Snow White in their enchanted forests.
I am incredibly pleased with how well the workout went today. It was enjoyable, but incredibly challenging. We didn’t bring any equipment, using the benches as our tools. We worked several different muscle groups, only using the benches. And we sweated our asses off! This is DEFINITELY a workout we will re-visit again and again.
Wow, that was a tough workout, but it was also amazing. I will have to wait a month to do it again but I can’t wait to see how we improve our time.