Spice Up Your Trail Run! Oh... and TABATA TUESDAY!

Even though it's getting colder outside, some days are just made for exercising outdoors! Running around the same trails can get boring and sometimes you want more than just cardio in your workout! My roommate and I hit the trails a few days ago and came up with this killer routine that can easily be used at your local trail! You'll notice the particular park we were running at has a lookout (which means STAIRS!) and many park benches throughout the woods (which you'll see we put to great use).

The key is to be creative with the surroundings! Take a look around you before you get started and you might just see some benches, chairs, or even "nature stairs" you've never noticed before that can easily up the intensity and variety of your workout!!

If you're going to do some circuits on the trail it is wise to choose one of the shorter or medium length trails. We opted for trail that was about 1 mile long and broke it up into 3 different circuits. When it was all said and done our circuit included about 3 miles of running with another 15-20 minutes of strength exercises.

Here's and example of the circuits we did:

Lap 1:
    >>  Run 1 mile trail
    >> 25 Tricep Dips

     

     >> Run Stairs in Lookout Tower (81 steps up, 81 steps down)

     >>  25 Plank Up-Downs
          

Lap 2:
     >> Run 1 mile trail
     >> 30 Second Side Plank Tip-Toes (Each Side)

     

     >> Run Stairs in Lookout Tower 
     >> 30 Second Single Leg Plank (Each Leg)

     

Lap 3:
     >> Run 1 mile trail
     >> 12 Walking Push-Ups

     

     >> Run Stairs in Lookout Tower
     >> 25 Tuck Jumps

HERE'S A BONUS!!!!

On our last lap we decided to stop at every park bench we passed and do a different exercise! Here are some great examples:

Decline Push-Ups

 High Mountain Climbers

Incline Push-Ups 

Split Lunges

(make sure to keep you knee behind your toes on this one)

Special thanks to my fabulous model brittany!!

As promised... your TABATA routine for the week!!!

Exercise 1: Mountain Climbers  >>Example

Exercise 2: Plie Squats  >>Example

Exercise 3: Inchworms  >>Example

Exercise 4: Ski Jumps  >>Example

Suggested Playlist:

"Flesh and Blood" by The Killers

"Holy Grail" by Jay-Z and JT

"Do What You Want" by Lady Gaga and R.Kelly

"Berzerk" by Eminem