Personal trainer Erin Seekins shares her advice for fitting in a workout when it seems downright impossible to get to the gym. You don’t always need to be inside with equipment to get a good sweat on!
“Sometimes getting to the gym is hard, especially now that fall is here and our schedules have become more rigid. However, you don’t always need a gym and equipment to get a good sweat on! The world around you can provide all you need to build simple, well-rounded workouts. A bench, a staircase, a stadium, and even a tree branch are perfect examples of common things that nearly everyone has access to that can produce highly effective workouts when you’re pressed for time or can’t get to the gym.
There are some great benefits to working out outdoors, especially as the colder weather comes around. Working out with a chill in the air may help to strengthen your heart and burn more calories because the body has to work harder to distribute blood and regulate body temperature. Also, most importantly, in the fall and winter months, since we spend so much time cooped-up indoors, heading outside for some exercise will give you a much needed dose vitamin D to keep up your energy and help keep you from getting sick. Just be sure you dress properly for the conditions!
Some great exercises include: a bench for tricep dips or step ups, sprints, push ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, planks.
As an example, while you sit at your kiddo’s soccer practice try this: run the length of the field, do 40 jumping jacks, 30 squats, a 20 second plank and 10 push ups before jogging back to the other end of the field and repeating. If you need more ideas for bodyweight exercises to do anytime, any place, check out the Hyatt Training exercise guides!
For me personally, some of my best training is done outside. I love the chance to get some fresh air, and it can even become meditative to unplug and just focus on what I’m doing. In addition, working out with limited materials really forces me to be get back to basics and at the same time lets me get really creative! So next time your pressed for time or simply can’t make it to the gym, don’t be afraid to incorporate a back yard or park workout into your routine, and eliminate your excuses!” —Erin Seekins
Erin’s personal training philosophy
My training philosophy is simplicity. One of the main reasons people have a hard time maintaining an active lifestyle is because things get too complicated and stressful. I believe that being fit and healthy is not a quick fix, but rather something that should be sustained your entire life. As your personal trainer, I’m here to facilitate and guide you, but you have to put in the work.
Hyatt Training is a collective of certified, enthusiastic and innovative personal trainers in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about our personal trainers or to set up a free consultation to see how they could help you, email us at Go@HyattTraining.com.
