Have you ever experienced the magic of exercising at sunrise? Waking up at the same time as mother earth is magical. The silence, tranquility, serenity and beauty of nature slowly waking up inspired me to share different types of outdoor exercises with you.
Dating back, our ancestors were mostly prone to hunting early in the morning. So by exercising at sunrise we’re getting back into our natural hunter-gatherer rhythm.
Sunrise is a special time where one can naturally re-energize and increase vitality within their body. Although exercising in the morning may mean waking up earlier than normal it does enable one to stick to an exercise routine more easily. Starting off your day early in the morning with the energy achieved through exercising will provide you with enough strength of mind and body to get through the rest of your day. The natural environment allows your senses to function at their purest form which awakens your body and facilitates it to physically relax.
Exercising early in the morning also raises the cortisol levels in your body which are responsible for keeping you alert throughout the day. Therefore early morning exercise will leave you feeling wide awake and ready to tackle the rest of your day. In addition the more exercise you do in the morning the better equipped your body will be to deal with physical stress and reduce its need to release cortisol.
There are a couple of outdoor exercises which are perfect no matter where you are. Be you on a beach, in a park, forest, or field…find your own natural environment and try out the following three routines which are short but intense. The intensity of each routine will produce a buildup of lactic acid in your body. Lactic acid is responsible for producing human growth hormones which will get you leaner, stronger, faster and leave you feeling amazing.
Here are the 3 different types of exercise routines:
Firstly – Lactic Liftoff:
Our ancestors often had to run or sprint in order to save their lives, especially if predators where in hot pursuit across the grasslands. This implied an intense period of exercise followed by a short period of recovery. Lactic Liftoff beautifully illustrates this situation. Find yourself a nice place to run where you can measure the distance. The first round is a fitness test, the aim is to run as fast as you possibly can for 2 minutes covering as much ground as possible (be sure to record your distance).
Round 1:
2 minute sprint.
1 minute rest.
Round 2:
Try and cover half the distance (if not more) than round one.
1 minute sprint.
1 minute rest.
1 minute sprint .
1 minute rest.
Round 3:
Try and cover the same distance as round 2.
1 minute sprint.
1 minute rest.
1 minute sprint .
1 minute rest.
Round 4:
Try and cover half the distance covered in round 2 & 3 in 30 seconds.
30 second sprint.
1 minute rest.
30 second sprint.
1 minute rest.
Round 5:
Same as round 4.
30 second sprint.
1 minute rest.
30 second sprint.
1 minute rest.
Always try to reach further than your initial distance.
Secondly – Body weight circuit:
The body weight circuit is a great workout to do anywhere as the only instrument you require is your own body. One set comprises each of the five exercises listed below.
1 set:
5 press up/push up
5 tuck jump
5 burpees
5 body squats
50 meter sprint
Complete 1 set five times. So for example, perform 5 press ups followed by 10 treadmills, then 5 burpees, 5 body squats and a 50 meter sprint all in a row. Repeat this 4 more times. Use a timer so you can record how long it takes you to complete the 5 sets. Have a rest and do it all over again trying to beat your initial time. 
Thirdly – Exploratory run:
This is a fun one, go for a run in a park, city, field, or forest…At Wildfitness we use 12 natural movement patterns to maintain a healthy, strong and lean body. These include walking, running, moving on all fours, jumping, throwing, catching, lifting, balancing, climbing, carrying, defending, and swimming. Use your imagination and creativity to incorporate as many of our natural movements as possible into your exploratory run. Climb trees, jump on benches, crawl on all fours, throw sticks around, and balance on rocks. Have fun, get back into your childhood mode and experiment with a wide range of natural movement. This will get you fit and work all aspects of your body instead of isolating only one sort of movement. You should try to run for about 20 minutes.
Try to plan on exercising 2-3 mornings a week. Challenge yourself, get up early and feel the positive benefit and magic of exercising at sunrise. Enjoy…
Jessie Campo
