Today we’re at a “park”.  Nowadays, parks come in all forms.  I miss the back-in-day parks with the dangerous 20 foot slides that were metal and the speed limitless merry go rounds that could shoot a kid 40 feet if spun the right way.  Ahhh…the good ole days of broken bones and knocked out teeth.  Today, however, is much different so you have to work really hard to find a park with these 3 things:

• Monkey bars
• 100 feet of open space
• A taller than normal slide

GROUND RULES

• Don’t go to the park and workout during mommy hours.  Do I even need to say that?
• Do not do this in minimalist sneakers if you are new to them.  Try crosstrainers instead.
• Use creativity to add to this workout.  You may not have my park at your disposal.
• Avoid running in the park mulch if at all possible.  All kinds of hidden horrors are lurking in that stuff.  You’ll sprain an ankle in a minute messing around with that maniacal mixture.
• Get used to people staring at you.  They’ll most likely be sitting on a bench with a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee wondering what in Heaven’s Name you are doing.  Just keep moving.
• You can find any of these exercises by googling them.  I have used all standard names.

DYNAMIC WARM UP

1. 30 sec pogos
2. 5 push ups (Alternate #1 and 2– 5 times.)
3. 10 Flings
4. 4 Groiners for stretch (hold them 3 sec each)  (NOTE:  I do the version that is one leg at a time—not 2.  It looks like a runners lunge but harder.)  Alternate #3 and 4– 3 times.

Do the following in place one right after the other, ten sec each:

1. High knees
2. Butt kickers
3. Squats
4. Alt side lunges
5. Mtn Climbers
6. Gate swings (do these half time for warm ups)

Repeat 3 times

Here is your dynamic “stretch”:

• Leg swings in all 3 directions
• Hip hip in place
• Round house kicks in place

THE WORKOUT

• Starting with the monkey bars:  jump up and do 1 pull up, drop to the ground and do 1 push up.   Do this twice.
• Stand up and perform:  4 jump squats, 8 squats rapid fire, 4 split jumps (T)otal, 4 alt fwd lunges
• Repeat this sequence for a total of 4 times through.

If you have an open and free parking lot or field space:

• Sprint for 15 sec.   (STOP AND NOTICE HOW FAR YOU HAVE GONE) Back pedal back.
• Now sprint half that distance, touch ground, sprint back to start and touch ground again.
• Do that 3 more times for a total of 8 half sprints.  (Remember that with me, 1 direction = 1 time.  Therefore, there and back = 2.)  Perform 20 russian twists, 10 plank jumps and 3 inch worms.  Repeat this sequence 2 more times.

Go back to the monkey bars:

• jump up and do 1 pull up, drop down and do 4 prone jacks.  Do this twice.
• Stand up and perform:   4 (T) alt side lunges with a plyo hop in the center, 4 lateral bounds, 4 rotational lunges
• Repeat this sequence for a total of 4 times through.

Go back to where you were doing the half sprints.

• Shuffle the half distance.  5 burpees
• Shuffle back.  1 rocket jump/8 mtn climbers (5 X’s)
• Repeat this entire sequence 5 times.

Head to the slide…

• Run up an extra long slide.  10 squats at the top (there should be a platform); be bold here:  no hands if you can do it or super long strides.
• Walk down the same slide, or another slide that is close, slowly.
• Turn around (or run in a loop if there are 2 slides) and repeat this for 10 reps.

Go back to the monkey bars:

• Jump up and hang there.  Perform 5 leg raises.  Drop down and sprint 5 sec away.  Touch the ground and sprint back.  Repeat this until you can’t do any more leg raises, you puke or you cramp up in the leg raise and become stuck in that position til a 5 year old helps you.  Ok, I was kidding about the last one but do let us know if you puke. J

COOL DOWN

Walk around slowly for 3 min.

Perform the cool down from the track workout in the place where you did the half sprints.

Tomorrow we conquer the beach.  WOOP WOOP!!

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