5 Fun Fall Workouts You Can Do Outdoors

After a long, hot summer, autumn has finally arrived. Why not let the crisp air and pretty autumn leaves motivate you to get outside and get moving? Combine cardio and strength training with these quick and effective workouts… and feel free to treat yourself to a pumpkin-spiced flavored treat afterward.

1. Autumn Trail Run Intervals

Find a local running trail, preferably with lots of trees displaying changing leaves, and get running.

  1. Warm up with a slow jog for five minutes before jumping into the interval portion of the workout.
  2. Look at your watch and run hard for 30 seconds before letting up into a jog for 90 seconds.
  3. After your jog, pick the pace back up again for 30 seconds.
  4. Complete the run with a total of eight rounds of 30 seconds hard and 90 seconds at a lighter pace.
  5. Finish up with a five-minute cooldown to take in the scenery.

Interval running increases endurance and cranks up your metabolism for the rest of the day.

2. Burpee Box Jumps

For this workout, find a log, tree branch, or something outside to jump onto. Make sure the space around the object is clear as you will be performing burpees.

  1. To start, jump down into a plank position, hop both feet in toward your hands in a squat position, and the pop back up to standing.
  2. Then, jump up onto a log or other object, and squat. Jump down, and perform that same burpee movement on the other side.
  3. Complete three sets of 10.
  4. To increase the intensity, try doing the burpee jump overs for 10 minutes or simply increase the sets or repetitions.
  5. To decrease the intensity, simply jump over a log and transition into a squat from there, rather than onto the log.

This workout will provide a healthy dose of cardio and strength in a short amount of time.

3. Track Plyometric Activities

Head to the track on a cool fall day for a plyometric workout. You can add this to a running routine or just complete it by itself.

  1. Line up on the beginning of the 400-metre stretch of the straight part of the track.
  2. Perform butt kicks to the 400-metre mark and back.
  3. Next, perform high knees there and back.
  4. Once you feel warmed up, perform lunges for 400 metres and then jog back.
  5. Perform 10 air squats and 10 push-ups before lunging across again.
  6. Repeat this sequence 10 times.

To increase or decrease the intensity, simply change the amount of sets. Plyometrics are high-impact exercises that build bone density to prevent injuries and breaks.

4. Fall Buddy Sprints

Grab a friend for a fun outdoor workout! Go to a track, field, or another area with 100 metres of space to run back and forth.

  1. You and your partner will start on opposite sides of the 100 metre marks.
  2. One partner sprints toward the other.
  3. Once the partner hits the finish line, the other partner sprints across and back.
  4. The next partner will then have to sprint both 100 metre sprints in a row to get back to their friend.
  5. Set the timer for 10 minutes and go to it!

This type of sprint routine will increase your aerobic capacity, endurance, and lower body explosive strength.

5. Outdoor Bodyweight Workout

This workout is perfect for a beautiful fall day when you want to get some strength work in. You can do these strength-based exercises outside without any equipment. You’ll have a series of exercises to do in a certain amount of time. The goal is to complete as many rounds of the series in 20 minutes as possible. Of course, you can adjust this time, or even throw in different exercises to modify or increase the intensity.

  1. Perform 10 pushups, 15 squat jumps, 20 triceps dips, 25 lunge jumps, and 30 hip bridges.
  2. This sequence will burn out your muscles and increase your heart rate for an overall killer workout.