This week we can finally enjoy nice weather. So it's time to get back to working out outside. We have listed the best outdoor workouts for you. Read along? A breath of fresh air and an extra shot of vitamin D are not all the benefits of working out outdoors. Working out in a natural environment is good for your body and mind. It is also fun to do, both alone and with others.
To train outdoors, you don't need much except your own body. The elements you want to return are endurance, strength and interval training. Always start your workout with a warm up. This will raise the temperature of your body and muscles which will make your workout more efficient and reduce your chances of injury.
Skipping rope
Rope jumping is an ideal warm-up, but in addition, it is also a good complete workout and a fun way to lose excess pounds. Skipping rope is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. It trains the entire body while strengthening cardiovascular system.
Exercise leg muscles
Squats
You can actually do the well-known squat anytime and anywhere as much and as often as you like. Make it part of your standard routine, such as after a run. You can start with a series of 3 times 25 repetitions. Keep challenging yourself and increase the number of repetitions as you notice yourself getting stronger. A detailed explanation of the squat can be found here.
Lunges
Perfect for the legs and buttocks. Place one leg forward and your other leg back so that you are in a nice spread position. After this, sink down until your back leg touches the ground and then immediately come back up, then place your other leg in front and do the same. Do a total of three sets of 10-16 repetitions with a short rest in between. If you want a heavier variation, we have it below. 
When you head towards the park, there are plenty of benches that you can do a workout with. Stand with your back to the bench a short distance away. Place your hands to your sides, place 1 foot on the bench and slowly go down until your front knee reaches an angle of about 90 degrees and get back up. Repeat the exercise 10 to 15 times. Do a total of three or four series of 10-15 repetitions for each leg with a short rest in between.
Push ups
One of the best sports exercises to train your pectoral muscles is push-ups. And you can actually do push ups anywhere. Even when you are exercising outside, there are several options. The simplest way is a full push up just on the ground. Lie on the ground, place your hands next to your chest on either side of the floor, tighten your abdominal muscles so your body is fully stretched like a plank and push yourself up. Again do this in 3 sets of 15 repetitions and increase the number of repetitions if it is too easy.
If this is a little too heavy go find a bench or picnic table, for example. When you place your hands on the edge of the table or seat and perform the rest of the exercise the same way you will notice that it goes easier.
Pull ups
Found a rack? Perfect! With a high climbing rack where your feet come off the floor, you can start "the real thing" and practice your pull ups. Tighten your core and pull yourself up until your chest reaches the rack with your chin above it .
Repeat this exercise several times. It's nice motivation to keep track of how many times you've done the pull ups so you can do just a little bit more the next workout. If you can't do a full pull up yet, do the jumping pull up. In this case, you jump up until you reach the final pull up position with your chest at the rack and your chin above it. Then lower yourself down slowly and in a controlled manner. In this way, you train your muscles so you can eventually do a full pull up.
Abdominal exercises
The abdominal muscles are the core of our body and you can train them in different ways. The most well-known form is the "crunch." When you think of abdominal exercises, this will be the first one that comes to mind. Lie on your back with your legs bent and come up with your upper body. Repeat this as much as you can. This exercise will increase your muscle mass and make the abdominal muscles stronger. 
Another variation you can easily do in the park is to hang in a climbing frame and lift your knees up as high as you can and repeat as often as you can. An advanced option is to do this same thing but with your legs fully extended.
Planks
Planking is super effective and strengthens your core. You can easily do this on the nearest grassy field. You train your entire body with this exercise. Lean on your elbows and feet while keeping your body as straight as a plank. Hold this for one minute and repeat three times at half-minute intervals. To make it even harder, you can vary between leaning on your hands and on your elbows while planking.
Running
Running is a fun way to work on your body. Especially through the sand, it is a great workout. So head to the beach or the dunes for a long run. Set goals for yourself every time to challenge yourself. Nowadays there are countless running apps for your smartphone to keep track of all your achievements and keep you motivated.
Cycling
Cycling is not only good for your body, but also good for your mind. Go for a brisk ride on a road bike, find a fun mountain bike trail or simply grab a bike to work. This is a full-body workout that is also great fun to do. There are special applications on your smartphone to keep track of how far you cycled, how long, how hard and how many calories you burned. This gives you a good overview of your performance and measures your progress, plus you arrive at work satisfied and refreshed.
Tips for outdoor sports
To make sure you train in the right way, we have selected a few more tips that can help you if you want to exercise outdoors.
- Make sure you have good shoes! The ground outside is not nearly as stable as indoors. It is therefore important for your joints to have good shoes and you prevent injuries.
- Don't dress too warmly. It is sometimes tempting to put on a lot of clothes when exercising outside, but you will get quite warm during exercise! The right amount of clothing varies from person to person; some prefer to be warmer than others. Be sure to choose breathable clothing.
- There is no need to bring drinks if you are not going to exercise for more than 1.5 hours. Just make sure you drink enough before exercise and drink a little more than usual afterwards. Are you going out for longer? Then I recommend that you do bring something to drink.
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