It’s a gorgeous day. You want to exercise outside and challenge your body, but you don’t really feel like going for a run. Well, we have the perfect solution to (literally) ramp up your next outdoor workout.
Katie Dunlop, personal trainer and creator of Love Sweat Fitness, has created this 30-minute total-body workout that you can do outside using just your bodyweight and a bridge. No need to travel to the Golden Gate—any type of bridge with a side railing will do. But for the sake of a convenient workout, we recommend finding a bridge that has a park or clearing on one end, where you can stretch before and after.
Check out a quick guide to the full workout, including the warmup, below. And keep scrolling for a breakdown of each move.
Bridge sprints: Sprint to the opposite side of the bridge and jog back. Repeat three times.
Lunge and reach: As you step forward into a lunge, reach your arms straight overhead and pause for a moment to stretch. Step forward and repeat with your opposite leg forward. Repeat 10 times total.
Inchworms: Standing on a flat surface in the center of the bridge, bend over placing your hands on the ground. Walk your hands forward moving into a high plank position. Perform one pushup and begin to walk your hands back, coming to standing. Repeat five times.
Wall sits: Lean against a wall with your feet about two feet away from it a, then bend your knees to 90 degrees and raise your arms in front of you b. Hold for 60 seconds.
Walking Lunge
How to: Take a large step forward with your right foot, landing gently with your weight in your heel. Make sure your knee is stacked over ankle (a). Bring your left foot to meet the right and repeat on the left side for 20 reps total (b).
Make it harder: Walk up the incline on the bridge as you perform the move for more of a challenge.
Triceps Dip
How to: Place your hands behind you on the bridge, stack shoulders over wrists and point fingers forward while keeping arms straight (a). Slowly lower down, until your elbows are bent at a 90 degree angle, then press straight up (b). Repeat for 15 reps.
Make it harder: Take these up a level by keeping your legs straight and long in front of you, which increases bodyweight resistance.
Made it easier: To modify, step your feet closer to your body and keep your knees bent as you lower up and down.
Related: 'I Did A 30-Day Pushup Challenge—Here's What Happened'
Elevated Thread the Needle
How to: Place one forearm on a flat surface (like the railing of the bridge), stacking your shoulder over elbow. Step your feet out, coming onto your toes while bracing your side body, glutes, and core (a). Reach your opposite arm overhead as you inhale, then wrap your arm towards the ground, threading your hand under your armpit as you exhale (b). Repeat for 15 reps on one side, then do 15 reps on the other.
Make it harder: If you want to step it up, lower down to the pathway of the bridge, bringing your body parallel to the ground.
Ice Skater
How to: Start in a low curtsy squat, with your right leg behind your left and chest lifted (a). Engage your core and exhale as you push off your left foot, and step into a curtsy squat with your left leg behind your right (b). Repeat 20 times total.
Make it harder: Don't allow your foot to touch the ground behind you as you jump from side to side.
Related: These Are The 4 Best Leg Exercises For People Who Want To See Serious Results
Decline Pushup
How to: Place your hands on the floor, stacking shoulders over wrists, and begin to walk your feet up behind you onto a stable surface (a). Tuck your pelvis slightly, engage your core and glutes as you inhale to lower and exhale to push back up to starting (b). Repeat for 10 reps total.
Make it harder: Take it up a notch by taking your feet up to an even higher incline.
Make it easier: Modify this movement by lowering your feet down closer to the floor, but still at a slight incline.
(Want more great workouts? The Slim, Sexy, Strong Workout DVD is the fast, flexible workout you've been waiting for!)
Side-Plank Toe Tap
How to: Come into a side plank, stacking your shoulder over wrist. Bring your bottom leg in front of your body and reach your top arm straight up (a). Inhale, then as you exhale, engage your core and obliques to lift the leg and bring your arm to meet it (b). Repeat for 15 reps per side.
Make it easier: Start in standing position. Leaning one hand against the side of the bridge, walk your feet slightly out toward center, arms-distance away. Perform the exercise in the same way, but bring your knee to meet your arm rather than your ankle.
Triceps Press
How to: Place your hands on a stable surface and walk your feet back a foot or two so that your body is at a 45-degree angle. As you inhale, bend at your elbows to lower your forehead toward your hands (a). Then straighten your arms back to the starting point as you exhale (b). Repeat for 15 reps total.
Make it harder: Step it up by bringing your hands lower and walking your feet back further, creating more of a slight-incline pushup position.
Make it easier: Raise your hands higher and walk your feet closer to the rail.
Related: Flatten Your Belly with This Killer Ab Workout
Squat Jump
How to: Bring your feet out slightly wider than hip distance. Inhale as you sit your hips in line with your knees, with weight in heels (a). Exhale as you drive through your feet and jump off your toes, landing softly (b). Repeat for 20 reps total.
Make it harder: Challenge yourself by starting at the bottom of the bridge and jumping toward the incline.
Lululemon tank, shop.lululemon.com; Lululemon leggings, shop.lululemon.com; KEEN shoes; keenfootwear.com.
Make it easier: Modify by doing a traditional squat and eliminating the jump.
Locke Hughes is a freelance writer, certified health coach, and believer in balance. When she's not sharing the latest health research, expert advice, or her deepest inner thoughts on the internet, she enjoys hot yoga, cold white wine, hiking, and Liane Moriarty novels.
