With Stage 3 of Ontario’s COVID-19 re-opening plan in effect, if you live in the Toronto neighbourhood of North York, count yourself lucky as there are plenty of options in the area to help you get fit.
Whether it’s joining your local boutique personal training gym or joining a local rec sports league, North York is a bustling hub for fitness enthusiasts. It also happens to be a mecca of outdoor calisthenics parks.
We previously wrote a blog on where to find outdoor calisthenics equipment in North York. Today we’ll be looking at the types of exercises you can look to do when you visit.
What type of equipment can I find at these parks?
Parallel Bars
A set of bars that are raised from the ground, place approximately shoulder-width apart. Build prodigious bodyweight strength with exercises like dips, L-sits and inverted rows.
Monkey Bars
We all know monkey bars from the playgrounds of our youth. Adult size monkey bars let you revisit your childhood while also increasing your arm and shoulder strength.
Hurdles
These hurdles are great for aspiring runners to get their knees up, but can also be used for bodyweight exercises.
Pull Up Bars
A set of horizontal bars, often at different heights, to provide you with a space to do your pullups.
Push Up Bars
A pair of hook-shaped parallel bars low to the ground that help intensify the effects of a pushup.
Step Benches
These benches are great for doing step exercises as a warmup before calisthenics.
Dip Handles
A set of body-width vertical bars with handles jutting out in the middle to let you perform dip exercises.
Design a calisthenics workout plan that incorporates park equipment
The wonderful thing about bodyweight exercises is that unlike running on a treadmill every day, you can incorporate lots of variety in the exercises you choose to make your workouts more interesting
Of course, you can’t do strength training of the same muscle groups every day. However, you can aim to split your muscle groups and do your bodyweight circuits every second day, with interval training days or rest days in between.
Every calisthenics workout should start with a dynamic warmup to get your muscles warmed up and reduce your chance of injury.
This could be running in place, jumping jacks, skipping rope or walking lunges.
Then you’ll want to incorporate exercises that target different muscle groups.
For example, one day’s circuit might target legs, chest, upper and middle back:
Walking Lunges (Warmup)
Pullups
Box Jumps
Glute Bridge
Another day you can focus more on your core, arms and shoulders:
Skip Rope (Warmup)
Push-ups
Dips
Hanging leg raises
Try these exercises using calisthenics park equipment
Pull-ups
Keep arms slightly wider than shoulder-width, and cross your feet with legs bent at 90 degrees. Raise yourself up till your chin is over the bar, then lower down. Perform 10 reps - though if you haven’t done these in a while, you’ll likely have to work your way up to this level!
Variation: Explosive Pull-up
This variation of the pull-up is much quicker and requires you to have mastered the standard pull-up. As the name suggests, it helps you develop explosive upper body strength.
Keep arms slightly wider than shoulder-width, and cross your feet with legs bent at 90 degrees. You will also want to tilt your head slightly upwards and arch your back inwards. In one quick movement, lift your body up so your chest is in line with the bar, then back down. Hang for a few seconds before each rep, perform 5-8 reps.
Variation: Corncob pull-up
Keep arms slightly wider than shoulder-width. On each pull-up, lift your head to one hand, then move your chin to your other hand before you come back down. Alternate which hand you start with on each pull-up, 5 reps for each side.
Inverted Row (Bodyweight Row)
This exercise is a great preparation for your upper body to be able to perform effective pullups. It is effectively a reverse push-up that uses a pulling motion.
On a low bar that you can reach when lying on the ground, grip the bar just wider than shoulder-width. Keep your core muscles tight and legs straight, lift your body up till your chest almost touches the bar, then back down. Perform 10 reps.
Push-up Kickbacks
Placing your hands shoulder-width apart on push-up bars or a bench, keep your core tight and perform a push-up, and when as you bring your chest down to the bench, squeeze your right glute and lift your right leg off the group, keeping your leg straight. Slowly lower the leg, and complete the push-up. Alternate legs, 5 reps with each leg.
Dips
Hold both dip bars at your side and begin with your arms straight and body raised. Slowly lower your body so that your arm is bent at 90 degrees, then raise back up. Perform 10 reps.
Hanging Leg Raises
While hanging from a bar, raise your feet until your legs are parallel to the ground, then slowly lower down to neutral. Perform 10 reps.
Box Jump
In front of a bench, do a full push up into a squat, jump up on the bench, and then back down into a push-up. Perform 10 reps.
Glute Bridge
Lie on your back in front of a bench, with your feet resting on the bench so you are forming a 90-degree angle at the knees. Tighten your glutes and core as you lift your hips off the ground and form a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Slowly lower down, and perform 10 reps.