Try the Trail-building Workout
October 09, 2014
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
Title
Try the Trail-building Workout
Body
The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is proud to present its very own GREEN GYM–the trail-building workout.
Tired of smelly, expensive indoor venues and boring workouts? Visit our spacious outdoor woodland facilities, which offer cardio warm-ups with unparalleled views and a wide range of trail-building workouts to tone all of your muscle groups.
Activities begin with a scenic hike into trail work sites to get the blood pumping. All muscle groups will then be thoroughly tested using the following tools:
Upper Body
- Arms: clippers and hand saws; carrying tools to work site, working the winch
- Biceps and triceps: small sledge hammers, stone shaping hammers, drill
- Shoulders, core, and overall balance: carrying buckets of crush
- Core, back, and shoulders: rogue hoe, pick-mattock, rake; upgrade to 10 lb. sledge hammers for a real challenge and stress-release workout
Lower Body
- Legs: Squats when picking up medium rocks and crush buckets
- Quads and back: rogue hoe, pick-mattock; dead lifting and carrying small to medium rocks
Full Body
- Side-hilling with a rogue hoe or pick-mattock (voted the best overall conditioning calorie-burn)
- Exercise your spatial intelligence by visualizing how to orient irregularly shaped rocks around obstacles and set them in the most stable positions.
Bonus effects of trail building workouts include camaraderie, a sense of accomplishment, and improved hiking paths for everyone to enjoy.
Best of all: It’s free!
To get your workout on, find a trail crew near you.