Before we jump into the park workouts that can help you achieve a variety of fitness goals, let’s review the outdoor workout equipment you might need. If exercise equipment isn’t in your budget yet, we’ve included a couple of bodyweight-only workouts.
Gymnastic Rings
Ideal for anyone who wants to take their calisthenics workouts to the next level, gymnastic rings are one of the best long-term investments for fitness equipment. If you are performing a playground workout, you can easily attach gym rings to the monkey bars or pull-up bars.
Exercises you can perform on the gym rings include leg lifts, rows, and muscle-ups.
Resistance Bands
If you want to add some resistance to your workouts, bands are the way to go. A single set of resistance bands allows you to choose the resistance that workouts best for you. They typically range from 10 pounds of resistance all the way to 175 pounds of resistance!
Exercises that you can perform with resistance bands include lat pulldown, chest press, and woodchoppers.
Gliding Discs
One of the most underutilized pieces of fitness equipment on the market is the gliding disc. This durable piece of plastic turns any workout into a balance, mobility, and stability workout. You’ll challenge muscles that you never knew you had.
You can use gliding discs on most surfaces, including grass. Place your feet on both discs then perform your core-focused workout.
Exercises that you can perform with gliding discs include mountain climbers, spiderman push-ups, and sliding lunges.
Park Workouts for Different Fitness Goals
Now that you know what equipment to buy, let’s dive into the park workouts.
We’ll provide two different workouts for the three most common fitness goals: weight loss, muscle growth, and strength gains.
No matter your goal, perform the two workouts in an A-B-A-B format during the week. For example:
- Monday: Workout A
- Tuesday: Workout B
- Wednesday: Rest
- Thursday: Workout A
- Friday: Workout B
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: Rest
Then on the following week, switch the order of the workouts to follow a B-A-B-A format. Continue alternating from week to week.
Bodyweight Park Workout for Weight Loss
The following workout is based on calisthenics exercises performed at a high intensity. This makes it ideal for excess calories and increasing your EPOC (excess post-oxygen) levels. Learn more about the role of EPOC and weight loss in our article on HIIT vs. cardio.
Perform all of the repetitions for one exercise before moving to the next. Once you finish all of the repetitions for all of the exercises, take a two-minute break, then start again. Repeat the workout up to five times.
WORKOUT A
- Jumping Jacks: 30 repetitions
- Push-up: 5 reps
- Mountain Climbers: 20 reps
- Step-up with Knee Raises: 10 reps
- Burpees: 5 reps
- Sprint: 3 seconds
WORKOUT B
- Toy Soldiers: 20 repetitions
- Pull-ups: 5 reps
- Jump Squats: 5
- Hanging Leg Raise: 10 reps
- Side Lunges: 10
- Sprint: 3 seconds
Playground Workout for Building Muscle
If your goal is to build muscle, we’re going to focus on workouts that maximize time under tension. We’ll use a combination of bodyweight and equipment-based exercises as well as a 60-second break time limit between exercises to achieve this goal.
We’ll also use the super set format. This means you’ll perform all of the repetitions for the first exercise then immediately begin the next exercise. Paired exercises are preceded by AA, BB, CC.
WORKOUT A
A: Resistance Bands Overhead Squats: 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions
A: Resistance Bands Shoulder Press: 3 x 10-12
B: Ring Rows: 3 x 12-15
B: Ring Leg Lifts: 3 x 10
C: Gliding Disc Mountain Climbers: 2 x 30
C: Gliding Disc Spiderman Push-Ups: 2 x 10
WORKOUT B
A: Resistance Bands Straight Arm Pulldown: 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions
A: Resistance Bands Leg Extension: 3 x 10-12
B: Ring Chest Fly: 3 x 12-15
B: Ring Muscle Ups: 3 x 5
C: Gliding Disc Lunges: 2 x 10
C: Gliding Disc Mountain Climbers: 2 x 30
Park Workout for Strength
Finally, we have strength. While you will build strength by performing the other workouts listed above, if you want to see accelerated results, you’ll want to focus on increasing the resistance. This means that bands and rings are going to work best.
Perform the sets and repetitions as listed. Really push yourself during these workouts, even if that means taking a longer break afterward. Since you aren’t focused on building muscle, there’s no need to worry about rushing back to meet the 60-second break limit.
WORKOUT A
- Resistance Band Chest Cross: 5 sets of 5 to 7 repetitions
- Resistance Band Overhead Squat: 5 x 5-7
- Ring Muscle-Ups: 5 x 3
- Ring Leg Lifts with Bands (attach the bands to a stable surface then hook them on your feet): 5 x 5
- Resistance Band Woodchopper: 5 x 15 (each side
WORKOUT B
- Resistance Band Lunges: 5 x 5-7
- Resistance Band Military Press: 5 x 5-7
- Resistance Band Lat Pulldown: 5 x 5-7
- Ring Rows: 5 x 12
- Resistance Band Side-to-Side Twist: 5 x 15 (each side)
Which Park Workout Will You Use?
Are you interested in building muscle? Want to burn more fat to achieve a weight loss goal? Let us know which park workout you’ll use on our Facebook.
