The benefits of outdoor training

The weather has become warmer in Brussels, and on a weekend, Tommy had begun to go outside for walks and meet friends to enjoy the good weather. Tommy went to a local cafe to meet his friends, where they would get some drinks. Tommy told his friends about his experience with the marathon and also he has taken good care of his health, as his friends complimented him for how good he is looking. As the talk kept going, they talked about doing a workout together for everyone to get in shape.

Tommy and his friends laughed, and as they finished their drinks, Tommy went home a few hours later. He decided to walk around a bit more and went through the park.

In the park, he passed by this playground with a lot of bars and saw this relatively thin guy training. Tommy went over to him and asked what he was training. The park guy answered that he is training calisthenics, which is bodyweight exercises. The park guy asked Tommy, “What is your name?” “My name is Tommy, what is yours?” responded Tommy. The park guy responded, “Jim. I am training outside throughout the year; it is nice.”

“You are training here the entire year?” asked Tommy. Jim said, “Yes, I do. It gives so much energy to my day as I get the sunlight, fresh air, and my workout.” “That is interesting,” Tommy answered. “I am used to going to the gym, so how do you know what to do and increase the weight with your bodyweight?”

“It can be a bit hard,” responded Jim. “You are using your body weight which you need to lift, but you also need to know more advanced movement. So, you progress through unlocking new movements that align with the advanced movements.”

Tommy said that he maybe should try to come outside while it is good weather just to try. Jim confirmed Tommy and said he should definitely do it.

Tommy continued his walk, and as he left the park, he began to text his friends to tell them that they should meet tomorrow outside for a workout together.

10 minutes later, Tommy got the first response which was, “Oh, you are serious about it. I thought we were joking?”

It was followed up by a new message from another friend saying that he thought they should do it but was not sure about being outside. “What if it is raining?”

Tommy responded that it is summer and most likely will not rain, and if it would rain, we go anyway.

Tommy’s friends were very hesitant and didn’t want to go. He didn’t really know what to do, as he can’t force them to come, but then he was also thinking it shouldn’t stop him.

The next day, Tommy woke up and got into his training clothes to head to the park. As Tommy was walking to the park, he could feel the sun on his face and feel how it begins to feel fresher.

As Tommy came close to the training area in the park, he saw Jim. Tommy said hello, “How are you?” to Jim. Jim responded, “Great to see you are here. I am good, man. How are you?”

“I am good. I am about to get my first outdoor workout done,” answered Tommy. Jim said, “That is cool, let me know if you need some help with exercises.”

“Will do,” responded Tommy. Tommy started doing a bit of warmup with some arm swings and some light incline push-ups.

Tommy started his workout with some push-ups and dips, where he then went over to do some pull-ups. He noticed that he couldn’t pull himself over the bar and was not sure either how he will train his shoulders or legs.

Tommy got Jim to help him, who showed him that for the pull-up he could do negative pull-ups to learn the movement. “You want to hold the bar and jump up, and then come down slowly.” For legs, Jim showed him that he could do squats, glute bridges, and nordic curls at a low bar for the hamstrings.

Tommy said, “Thank you,” to Jim who responded, “No problem.” Tommy continued working out and followed Jim’s instructions. He waited with the legs for tomorrow. As Tommy was done with his workout, he felt super energized and really enjoyed how he felt from having got fresh air and the sunlight in the morning.

It really changed the rest of the day for him as he could feel he was in a better mood.

A week has passed by and Tommy had now trained outdoor for the entire week, and felt great. He wanted to continue working out like this during the summer and asked Jim if he could help him make a workout program that is simple to begin with.

Jim was very willing to help Tommy and put together a simple workout program for him. It couldn’t be better for Tommy.

Later on that day, Tommy met with his friends again and told them about his experience from training outside in the last few days. His friends were still hesitant to join him, but this time Tommy cut in and said, “We meet tomorrow at 10:00 am to workout.” They all looked blank at him, where one responded, “Okay, I will join you,” and then the rest followed.

The next day they all met in the park, and Tommy showed them his workout program. They were finally all together to workout outside in the sun.