Creative Outdoor Fitness

Four ideas/events have come into my field of view and converged.
1) Spring ahead. Changing the clocks means an extra hour of daylight in the evening. The vernal equinox is fast approaching. The great outdoors beckons.
2) This article on the Core Performance website. The fitness industry is running out of new ideas and new equipment to keep us in the gym. If you want to be healthy, stop looking for magic pills or magic toys and start looking inside yourself.
3) These 2 blogs, Coach Tara and Primal Nature Play, which teach the value of movement in the natural world. Wherever you are, be there and have fun. These coaches share their ideas on outdoor activities that promote fitness, fun, and a healthy lifestyle. Use whatever equipment is available—the slope of the terrain, playground equipment, stairs, or invest in some inexpensive even homemade equipment.
4) Parkour is the urban equivalent of primal play. This is a little extreme for me, but the principle is the same. You don’t need stairmasters and treadmills and Nautilus machines. A little creativity can go a long way toward creating a healthy lifestyle.


I am psyched to get outside and play and have some new adventures in fitness. I want to take my DIY Bootcamp to another level. I usually do this workout at the high school track which is adjacent to the elementary school. Playground!! There is a playground right next to the track. Duh! I’m also going to make a field trip to Home Depot. I want a slosh pipe! If you take a shorter and smaller diameter PVC pipe and fill it with sand, that might make a nice body bar. And while we’re talking sand, there are some soccer balls in the garage that are starting to look like medicine balls to me. Sandbags, hmmmm, how much does a gallon sized Ziploc bag of sand weigh and how many will fit in a small duffle bag. Ever watch rhythmic gymnastics? The sticks with long ribbons attached—how hard can it be to make one of those?

When I told my son I wanted to make a slosh pipe, he was quite horrified. He would be embarrassed if any of his friends saw me walking around carrying a giant slosh pipe. He would prefer that I stayed within the lines, like the walking talking mommies. Well, that’s his problem (if I do see any of his friends, I plan on challenging them to carry the slosh pipe!).