My 3 Favorite No Equipment Workout Moves

I absolutely love being outside.  I also enjoy lifting weights!  However, putting these two together can be tricky.  That’s one reason why I love doing workout moves that require no equipment.  Just yourself, the earth, and a desire to be awesome!  Plus, if you’re just getting into being healthy and fit, you don’t need to buy anything! :)  So I thought I’d share my 3 favorite moves you can do anywhere, anytime, with NO equipment!  I’d love to see you giving these a try!  Take a pic or video and tag me in it! @jonesintogetfit or @Spencerjones

Push-ups

Yes the basic and sometimes dreaded push-ups.  While a standard push-up can get boring there are so many variations that help make it more enjoyable.  Everything from wide hands, heart to heart, narrow feet, wide feet, to full body plyo push-ups.  This one move works your chest, tri’s, and even some more muscles with different variations!  Mix it up and give them a try.  Even if you just do a 1 inch push-up, it’s better than not doing anything!

Pikes Press

What!?! Another upper body exercise?  You know it!  When I was first introduced to this shoulder press I was told that if you could do 10 you were stellar!  I think I could do 4 before I almost fell on my head.  It’s a hard move but I like the fact that it really challenged me and I could see improvements relatively quickly!  To do this move get into a downward dog.  Keep your legs straight and bring your hands in a little bit.  Now drop your head straight down in-between your hands.  Then push your head back up using your shoulder muscles.  You’ll feel the burn in no time!

Calf Raises

I think it’s because of Tony Horton and P90X but I love working out my calf muscles.  I have two different ways that I like to work them out.  One is a fast positive motion (lifting up on your toes) and a slow and controlled negative (lowering your heel).  Do this controlled and putting the weight by your big toe.  The other way is the three way calf raise.  First you stick your toes out wide, like a duck and do 15 calf raises, then parallel to each other and do 15 raises, then point your toes together, like a pigeon, and do 15 calf raises. Want added intensity, do 15 slow and controlled reps (up and down) and 10 fast before going to the next position!

Now are there other muscles groups, of course!  Do I like working out other muscles, you know it!  I also dread working some other ones out.  But I wanted to give you a glimpse at some of my favorite equipment free workout moves.  I can do these anywhere, anytime, and all I need is myself and the earth.  I’d love to know what your favorite workout moves are, with or without weights.  Let me know in the comments or tag me in a picture of your favorite move.

Pedal Power Stretches

2017 is a huge year for kayak fishing, mainly pedal fishing kayaks.  While there were a two main pedal drives out for a number of years this year almost every major brand has come out their version a pedal drive.  There are a number of advantages to having a pedal driven yak and one is that your legs are your largest muscle group.  This means you have more power and won’t fatigue as early.  Sadly, just like your shoulder and arms your legs can get cramps.  It is even more important to stretch out your legs before and after you kayak to make sure you stay in tip top shape and are ready for you next big adventure.  I suggest doing these 3 stretches right before you launch and as soon as you come back in from your adventure.  

1)Swinging Knees

Feel free to use your paddle to help you balance if needed.  Stand up straight and raise your left knee so it bends at 90 degrees and your quads are parallel to the ground.  Then gently swing your left leg out to the left side.  When it is as far as you can get it to the side, lower your foot back to the ground.  Do this 5 times.  Then switch legs and stretch it out 5 times.

2) Dizzy Toes

It’s just like it sounds sit or stand, whatever you prefer and extend your left leg lifting it off the ground a couple inches.  With your toe draw a circle going clockwise.  Go around the circle 10 times then reverse direction (going counter-clockwise) 10 times.  After completing the 20 circles, put your foot down and lift your right leg and do both sets of circles.

3)Swaying Elephant Trunk

Spread your legs keeping your toes pointed forward.  You’ll want them at least 3 feet apart but can be more if you wish.  Put your hands on your hips and keeping your core engaged bend down keeping a straight back.  Once you get as low as you can go or parallel (whichever happens first) then bend your back and allow yourself to hang.  You can move your hands so they hang down by your head.  Slowly sway left and right.  Your hands can move as well. (Looking like an elephant trunk.) You’ll want to feel the stretch in your hamstrings.  If your muscles are too tight you can bend the knees slightly.  Hold this position for 15 or more seconds.  To come up, breathe deeply and slowly raise yourself back up imagining you are putting a single vertebrae in place at a time.  Keep your head down until the last little bit.  When you back is straight, gently raise your head and roll your shoulders back!

Busting Outta Here

This last weekend was absolutely incredible!  The weather was really giving everyone Spring fever with temps in the 60’s and even 70’s here in Wisconsin.  Now I know for some of you folks, you’re already enjoying these temperatures but here in the frozen tundra it’s our first taste of weather.  Folks were outside cleaning up and prepping their yards for the summer, walking their dogs, running, and getting outside.  I even saw a couple kayaks on top of cars!  What a beautiful sight!  

Sadly I had other commitments that kept me from fishing but I was able to get outside and finally was able to clean up the yard and get some of it set for summer (still more work to do) and ran 4 miles.  I absolutely love this warm weather!  While I didn’t get a chance to workout outside the warmth definitely had me thinking of my park workout I did a couple years ago.  I’m really looking forward to pushing myself to get outside of my comfort zone and push my physical limits outside!  A park is a perfect area to do this, especially if it has hills!  You can spring up the hills, do push-ups, gorilla crawls, pull-ups (if they have monkey bars), bear crawls, and so much more!

Below is the video of the park workout I did two years ago.  How many of you would be interested in doing a park workout?  Would you want a list of exercises and all that you can bust out when you’re outside enjoying the weather?  Let me know in the comments below or email me!  If there’s enough interest, I’ll get some workout routines made up and share them!  Maybe even another video!