The days are long, the weather is warm, and do you see how the sun hits your biceps?
Science suggests you’ll have more fun training outdoors, and there’s no excuse not to. No matter your schedule, we've got the right workout for you to get outside and get sweaty.
Check out these summer-friendly fitness options, broken out by how long your sweat session will last. Whether you want to spend all day in the sun or just take a quick break outdoors for some Vitamin D, we've got you covered.
1 Minute
DROP AND GIVE US 20 (OR MORE)
Pushups are a quick, efficient way to target the pecs, deltoids, and triceps—and you won’t look silly on your lawn. See how many you can crank out in 60 seconds. Lead with your chest rather than your hips or your neck, suggests Zack Daley, training manager at New York City’s Tone House.
You’re working quickly, so get the most out of your minute with good form: Avoid tilting your head up, and keep your neck aligned with your spine. Work on grass if you can, too; it’ll be softer on your hands than pavement.
TRY THE TREE SIT
Yes, like the wall kind. Make sure your back is flush to the trunk of a tree, sit until your thighs are parallel to the ground, and stay there for 60 seconds of hamstring and quad hell.
Watch your form, says Brick New York trainer Ben Sweeney, A.C.S.M.-C.P.T. Press through your heels and squeeze your glutes so you don’t let your knees cave in.
HIT THE BENCH
Find yourself a beachside bench, but don’t take a seat. Instead, get ready for a box jump with a twist from Kenny Santucci, coach and general manager at Solace New York. Rather than jump forward onto the bench, try the lateral version: Line up with your right side near the bench, then jump up and onto it. Land softly, then jump off it on the other side. Repeat for 60 seconds. If the bench has a back, do this facing one way for 30 seconds, then face the other way for 30 seconds.
SPRINT IN THE SAND
Running on sand can expend 1.6 times as much energy as on a hard surface. Translation: Holy calorie- and quad-burning!
Take off your sneakers and set them about 20 yards apart. Run from one sneaker to the next for a minute; see how many runs you can finish before time is up.
DO TREE PULLUPS
Spending time in the woods may lower your pulse and blood pressure, according to Japanese scientists. That’s cool, but before you get too relaxed, put in some work. Raise your pulse by doing this: Find a sturdy branch, hang from it with an overhand grip, and do as many pullups as you can in 1 minute.
If you’re struggling, do 1 or 2 reps, drop to the ground, breathe, and then jump back onto the branch and fight through more reps. You’re outdoors—no rules!
5 Minutes
CARRY A COOLER A LONG WAY
Loaded carries are a great way to build strength, and your cooler stocked with brewskies won’t move itself.
That gives Chad Raynor, N.A.S.M.-P.E.S., C.P.T., C.E.S., an idea: Pick up your cooler (or grab two coolers), let your arm hang at your side with it, and walk for 5 minutes (or until you get from the beach to your spot in the parking lot—whichever takes longer). Make sure to draw in your navel, and try to squeeze your shoulder blades. That’s optimal form (and it’ll get you to an optimal beach bod).
TAKE A WALK
Just 5 minutes of walking in green space can be enough to reduce stress and get you more motivated to stay active, according to an analysis in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. So take a stroll.
Bonus points if you find a body of water on your walk. Those in the study who exercised within view of a lake or river experienced a mental lift from that, too.
EMBRACE THE BURPEE
It’s debatable whether the dreaded burpee is more or less fun in the sun, but it’s effective anywhere.
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Do 10 to 15 burpees each minute; if you finish early, rest and breathe until the next minute starts. You’ll wind up doing 50 to 75 total burpees in your own personal light-speed boot-camp session.
WALK THE GRASS PLANK
Instead of snoozing in your backyard, see if you can withstand a series of planks. They’re one of the most effective core exercises, and they’re perfect if you have back pain.
Your challenge: Hold your plank for 5 minutes. Spend the first minute in a standard forearm plank, then shift into a right-side plank for the second, a left-side plank for the third, and back to a standard plank for the final 2 minutes. Up the ante by wearing a weight vest.
15 Minutes
JOG TO A FRIEND’S HOUSE
A large study shows that even a small amount of jogging daily can dramatically improve a person’s health. Among the benefits: a lowered risk of stroke and heart disease. So leave your car, lace up your sneakers, and jog to your buddy’s cookout.
CLIMB THIS LADDER
Got 15 minutes? Do this body-weight challenge from MH fitness editor Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
Set a timer, then do 5 pushups, 5 squats, and 1 burpee in the first minute. In the second, do 5 pushups, 5 squats, and 2 burpees; keep adding 1 burpee each minute. Stop the workout either when 15 minutes is up or when you can’t finish the full burpee workload.
RUN THE BLEACHERS
That drill your high school coach used to whip you into shape still works. Head to a high school stadium. After a warmup, sprint up a set of stairs, 2 steps per stride.
Work on mechanics: Lift your knees high and land on the balls of your feet. Walk back down, using that time to recover, suggests celebrity trainer Jason Walsh. Sprint up again; do as many sets as you can in 15 minutes.
HIT THE SAND
Training in the sand is natural for the three soccer pros behind SoccerShape, a class that combines strength training and cardio with challenging drills. Try their no-equipment workout:
Do 12 lunges, 20 squat jacks, 16 pushups, 10 single-leg deadlifts per leg, and 10 tuck jumps. Then set up a series of 5 markers about 10 yards apart. Run from the first marker to the second and back, to the third and back, and so on. That’s 1 round. Can you finish 3 rounds in 15 minutes?
30 Minutes
SPICE UP YOUR SPRINTS
Find yourself a local hill (or hit the bleachers again) and tackle 1-minute sprint-up, 1-minute jog-down repeats. After 15 of these suckers, you’ll be feeling a new kind of burn.
“This is the elevated burn of having to work against propulsive forces—which increase with incline,” says David Siik, creator of Precision Running at Equinox. Yep, uphill is hard.
TACKLE A 5K RACE
A little friendly competition never hurt anybody. In fact, one study says competing against others may be more effective for boosting physical activity than having friends cheer you on.
So register for a 5K with some buddies and place a small wager on who will finish first or who will improve the most. Winner buys the postrace burgers or pizza.
WEIGHT YOUR CHORES
Snag a weighted vest or ankle weights and throw on a few extra pounds while you get things done around the house. Taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, and walking the dog become stealth workouts.
60 Minutes
HIT THE TRAIL
Try this one with a friend. Kick up the intensity on a hike by occasionally throwing in light downhill jogs when the opportunity strikes, recommends ultramarathoner Dylan Bowman. “You’ll be able to cover ground much more quickly and have a blast doing it,” he says.
LAY SOME BRICK
Bring your bike and running shoes to what triathletes call a “brick” workout—biking followed by running.
Start with a 20-minute relaxed bike ride, then challenge yourself. Work through 10 intervals in which you go all out for 1 minute and then pedal easily for 30 seconds, suggests Jesse Kropelnicki, the founder of QT2 Systems, an endurance-training coaching company. After 10 more minutes of relaxed biking, ditch the cycle and run for 15 minutes. Fight to keep the first 10 minutes up-tempo, then jog easily to cool down.
TRY A TEMPO RUN
Distance runners get race-ready with “tempo” workouts, usually defined as comfortably hard. Try this 60-minute version of one of Boston-based Tracksmith running coach Louis Serafini’s tempo workouts:
Start with a 20-minute run at a pace that allows you to talk, then do 5 minutes of stretches and a few light strides. Now the hard part: Spend the next 20 minutes alternating between fast-paced 2-minute intervals (you shouldn’t be able to talk through these) and slightly slower 3-minute runs. End with a 15-minute easy cooldown.