20-Minute Full Body Outdoor Workout for When the Gym Feels Too Indoors

Working out outside is a cheat code you should not be taking for granted. Fresh air, no gym membership, no waiting for the squat rack while Brosef does his 8th set of curls in it. You can train your whole body with just bodyweight, and if there's a pull-up bar or bench at your local park, even better.

This full body outdoor workout uses moves you already know (with some nifty variations) so you can build strength, conditioning, and a little sweat soaked humility in about 20 minutes. Pack a mat, grab some water, and let's get into it.

What Counts as a Full Body Outdoor Workout?

A full body outdoor workout is any training done outside that hits your major muscle groups in one go, usually with bodyweight, light gear, or whatever you can use at the park or playground. Typically, this will mean sets of push-ups, squats, lunges, rows, planks, and conditioning movements combined into a circuit. If you program it right, a calisthenics full body workout outdoors will give you a ton of benefits, including big jumps in push-ups, squats, burpees, rows, and core stability if you keep it up consistently.

Why Working Out Outside Hits Different

Outdoor training has more going for it than just the vibes. Exercising outdoors can feel more enjoyable and put you in a better mood than doing the same workout indoors, which means you're more likely to actually do it tomorrow. You might also feel less anxious, stressed and depressed when you workout in nature.

Taking your calisthenics outside might even increase your performance more than if you do the same routine inside. Something about the fresh air gets you working harder without it feeling harder.

Read more: Plan an Epic Outdoor Workout

Outdoor Workout Exercises To Try

These outdoor fitness drills hit the major movement patterns and scale up or down for any fitness level. Pick a handful that work your push, pull, lower body, and core, master proper form first, then add load, reps, or speed as your fitness builds.

Push-Ups (and Variations)

Push-ups are the king of outdoor pushing movements. They train chest, shoulders, triceps, and core and are easy to adapt for beginners (incline on a bench or plyo box) or more advanced (decline, diamond, Spiderman, archer).

Read more: How to Get Better at Push-Ups

Inverted Rows

Find a low bar, a sturdy picnic table, or a playground frame and grab on. Inverted rows train your back, biceps, and rear delts so you balance out all the pushing you're doing. The flatter your body, the harder the row. Bring your chest to the bar with every rep and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top.

Squats and Lunges

Bodyweight squats are the perfect place to start, and don't sleep on walking lunges, reverse lunges, and lateral lunges for building leg strength. If you mix tempos, or add holds and pulses you can absolutely get enough intensity to work those bigger muscles without adding weight.

Glute Bridges and Hip Hinges

Most outdoor circuits skip the posterior chain and end up quad-heavy. Add glute bridges, single-leg bridges, or a Romanian deadlift hold with a loaded backpack to get your hamstrings and glutes working too.

Burpees and High Knees

Burpees might be everyone's least favorite conditioning move, but they sure get the job done. It's a combo of a push-up, a hinge, and a jump, and you can add or subtract parts of it to make it easier or harder. You can sub these for high knees, mountain climbers, and pop squats to hit the same body parts.

20-Minute Full Body Outdoor Circuit

Set a timer and work through this circuit at RPE 7 to 8 (hard, but you can still squeeze out one more rep). Repeat 3 to 4 rounds, resting about 60 seconds between rounds. Bring a yoga mat for the ground and some Purist® Hydration for the rounds where you start questioning your life choices.

• Push-ups x 10-12
• Inverted rows or pull-ups x 8-12
• Bodyweight squats x 15
• Reverse lunges x 10 per side
• Glute bridges x 15
• Plank shoulder taps x 20
• Burpees x 8

For a finisher, tack on 30 seconds of high knees, 30 seconds of mountain climbers, and 30 seconds of rest, then repeat twice. Doing this HIIT style is super efficient for working your muscles and cardio at the same time.

How to Make It Harder Over Time

If you've been doing the same circuit for a month and it feels easy, your body has adapted and it's time to progress. Add reps, slow your tempo (3 second lower on every push-up), or strap on a Strata™ Weight Vest to add load to your reps. You can also shorten rest between exercises or add a round.

Takeaway

A full body outdoor workout using what's already around you feels pretty special. Working every major muscle group while in the great outdoors can boost your mood and effort, and help you stick to your workout goals. Just go with whatever equipment you can find, bust out a handful of movements that work upper and lower body, and feel better in the process.

FAQs

What is the best full body outdoor workout for beginners?

Start with bodyweight push-ups (on knees or an incline), inverted rows on a low bar, bodyweight squats, reverse lunges, and a glute bridge hold. Do 2 to 3 rounds at moderate effort, and add a round or some reps each week as it gets easier.

Are outdoor calisthenics workouts effective?

Yes. Calisthenics circuits done outdoors improve muscular endurance, functional fitness, and aerobic capacity, often more enjoyably than the same workout indoors. Six weeks of outdoor strength circuits boosted women's motor test scores by 25 to 178%.

Can outdoor workouts replace the gym?

For general health and conditioning, absolutely. You can build excellent baseline fitness with outdoor workouts alone. But if you're looking for maximum strength gains or trying to build muscle past the newbie stage, you'll eventually want loaded resistance like a barbell or heavy dumbbells.