Us Minnesotans take our summers very seriously. The moment the temps bump above freezing, most of us can be found doing some sort of outdoor activity. That ranges all the way from running the lakes and biking the many trails, to drinking a beer on a patio. For all those fit folk out there, the summer months often correlate with lots of cardio, as exercise is taken to the great outdoors. There is nothing more beautiful than soaking up vitamin D while getting your heart rate up. But just think… what if we could take that same glorious approach and sneak in some strength training as well? Sometimes those muscles crave a little challenge… ya feel me?!

That being said, most of us don’t have the luxury of a garage gym with a large door that lets in warm rays of sunshine (but a girl can dream). Nor do we have an easily portable weight rack that we can take with us to the park… but we DO have our own bodyweight! There are tons of effective and challenging exercises that we can do with our bodyweight alone, and it’s even more fun with the assistance of a park bench!

Sneak in some strength training on your next run by making a pit stop at a park bench to complete this 12 minute circuit! 

12 MINUTE PARK BENCH TOTAL BODY BLASTER

Set your stopwatch and work through these 5 exercises (4 total minutes), circuit style, for 3 rounds.

• Push ups (30 sec)
• Step ups (30 sec each leg – 1 total minute)
• Tricep dips (30 sec)
• Bulgarian split squats (30 sec each leg – 1 total minute) 
• Mountain climbers (60 sec)

Screenshot the image below and take it with you on your next sunshine-filled run 🙂