Bodyweight exercises for outdoor gyms

Man doing a push-up on the grass near an outdoor gym

Did you know that you can get super strong simply by practising bodyweight exercises at outdoor gyms? That’s right, there’s a huge range of exercises that utilize your body weight only, or otherwise very simple equipment where your bodyweight is used as the resistance.

Here’s a basic overview of some of the bodyweight exercises you can do at outdoor gyms:

Beginner bodyweight exercises for outdoor gyms

1. Beginner bodyweight exercises for the lower body:

Bodyweight squats and variations such as pulses at the bottom of the movement
Bodyweight lunges (you can hold a pole or post for stability to begin with)
Calf raises, either on the ground or with your feet halfway off a step for increased range of motion
Isolated lower body exercises such as the clam, hip raises and glute extensions
Step-ups – step-up and down onto a small step

2. Beginner bodyweight exercises for the upper body:

Push-ups on knees
Modified chin-ups (using a bar that is lower than chest height, and keeping the feet flat on the floor, in front of you and under the bar)
Bent knee dips with hands on a bench

Intermediate-advanced bodyweight exercises for outdoor gyms

1. Intermediate-advanced bodyweight exercises for the lower body:

Jump squats
Dynamic lunges (e.g. “power” lunges and walking lunges). Progress to jumping lunges
1 legged calf raise with foot halfway off a step
Running step-ups on a small step and/or step-ups onto a park bench or high platform

2. Intermediate-advanced bodyweight exercises for the upper body:

Full push-ups, which can progress to other variations such as diamond push-ups, clap push-ups and push-ups with your feet raised
Full chin-ups, progressing to wide grip chin ups (use a spotter if you need to)
Full bodyweight dips using parallel bars

You can also try out cardio based bodyweight exercises such as star jumps, mountain climbers and burpees.