Photos by Justin Greiman. Used by permission of Michael Wittig.
Natural bodybuilder Michael Wittig has an outdoor workout loaded with big benefits.
It’s too easy to stay in our comfortable surroundings and never venture out. The fear of having to learn something new, do extra work, or ultimately fail may be the cause. The thing we have to remember is that God is always with us so how can we fail? Having the ability to go to your home gym is a blessing. You have access to your favorite machines and be able to chat with your friends between sets. You know where everything is and it’s comfortable. The question I want to ask you is what do you do when the gym is unavailable?
Do you just skip the workout or find a way to get the job done? What if I told you the ability to workout intensely does not reside in a location, but in your heart and mind. You can get a quality workout in anywhere, anytime if you have your mind set to get it done.
One of the best places to get the heart rate going is in the beautiful outdoors. This is especially true if you have a busy schedule and cannot make it to the gym, or traveling. Outdoor workouts are also great during deload (recovery) weeks and just changing up your routine for something fresh.
In addition to getting your workout in there many great benefits to being outdoors including:
- Improves mood
- Reduces stress
- Strengthen immunity
- Boosts energy
- Clears skin
- Improves Sleep
- Reduce inflammation
- And much more
While it’s easy enough to get a great outdoor workout using just our body weight with movements like push ups, burpees, and lunges, there is also a way to get a muscle building, gym quality workout using resistance bands. They are inexpensive, easy for travel, and can provide enough resistance to challenge you for most movements. I recommend picking up a set of bands with handles that come in a variety of resistance levels from light, for movements like lateral raises, to very heavy for back rows and curls. Using a little creativity you can replicate most dumbbell and cable movements anywhere you find yourself. Complement your push ups with this outdoor banded shoulder workout that will set your delts on fire.
Resistance Band Shoulder Workout Outdoor Edition
When working shoulders it’s important to touch on each of the three muscle heads:
- anterior
- medial
- posterior
When working with minimal equipment like bands exercise order can be important to get an effective workout. Rest 60-90 seconds between each set. Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps for each movement.
BANDED LATERAL RAISE
This is an isolation movement that targets the medial head of the delts. In the gym one would normally do this movement after a heavy compound exercise like overhead presses. When working outdoors with bands the lateral raise is a great movement to get started with in order to pre-exhaust the shoulders so you can press effectively with lighter resistance.
How to do it: Stand in the middle of a lighter resistance band holding each handle with your arms straight down at your sides. As you raise your arms up to shoulder height, work to keep your elbow slightly higher than your hand and your thumb point more downwards. Think about raising your elbows out rather than lifting your shoulders upward. You want to isolate the shoulders and try to keep your traps out of it. Then slowly lower your arms.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps
BANDED OVERHEAD PRESS
Now that the shoulders are warmed up with the lateral raises, let’s move on to this classic compound movement that works the anterior and medial head of the delts as well as the triceps.
How to do it: Stand in the middle of a medium to heavy resistance band. Grab the handles and lift your arms up to get into starting position. Your upper arms should be parallel to the ground and your palms facing forward. Keep your core tight and your chest lifted up. Press your arms straight upward and lower slowly back to starting position.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps
SHORT ON TIME? Another way to do this workout when in a time crunch is to do Giant Sets. Do each of these movements back-to-back without rest for one giant set. Rest 90 seconds then repeat. Do 3-4 giant sets for a challenging workout.
BANDED UPRIGHT ROW
This is a great movement to work the front delt/pec tie in, side delts, and trapezius. Do this with a wider hand placement to work the medial head of the shoulders slightly more.
How to do it: Stand in the middle of a medium resistance band holding each handle with your arms straight down in front of your thighs. Keeping your elbows high, raise your hands to the sides of your lower chest. Your elbows should be higher than your hands. Slowly lower your hands back to the starting position.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps
BANDED PULL BACKS
Working the posterior head of the shoulder is important for muscular and aesthetic balance. This is a great movement to isolate that rear delt head.
How to do it: Grab a light to medium band shoulder width apart, or slightly less than. Hold your arms straight out in front of you shoulder height. While keeping your arms straight with palms downward, pull your arms apart until they are straight out at your sides. Then slowly return to the starting position. Adjust the space between your hands to get the resistance at a challenging level.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps
RESISTANCE BAND TIPS:
- Where you stand on the band will greatly affect the resistance. Stand with your feet together for a lighter lift, step on the band in a wider stance to increase the resistance.
- If you are exceptionally strong at specific movements you can use two bands to dramatically increase the resistance.
- Bands can be wrapped around secure objects like poles, trees, or heavy furniture to unlock many more movements. Many band kits will come with a door attachment for indoor use as well.
- Respect the bands and be careful how you use them. While snapping yourself may not cause critical harm, it doesn’t feel very good.
TRAINING YOUR MIND AND HEART OUTDOORS
One of the best things about training outdoors is that it puts you in a bigger place that is more open often with less noise and distractions. That makes your workout more conducive to focusing you mind and heart on God. Instead of putting on the headphones or earbuds just let the quieter sounds of the outdoors be the background that helps your spirit to be quieter too.
Our bodies are a gift from God and it’s our duty take care of it. He called us to go out and spread the Word (Bible passages, Jesus’ teachings and the Christian lifestyle) . That can be hard to do if we are in declining health and have limited movement. Exercise so you can fulfill your mission, be a good example for your family and friends, and to respect the gift God has given you.
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