10 Great Tips to achieve your most effective outdoor workout. Working out outdoors is so much more than just doing a few push-ups after your run. Let Muddy Plimsolls Ltd, London's best outdoor personal training service, show you how to get fit without a gym. We're experts at outdoor urban exercise and making the best use of local green spaces for getting fit. Whether you're training in your home town, or on business around the world.

1. BEYOND THE
PUSH-UP:
10 GREAT TIPS
TOACHIEVE
YOURMOST
EFFECTIVE
OUTDOOR
WORKOUT
By Jason Doggett, co-Founder and Fitness Coach,
Muddy Plimsolls Ltd
© Jason Doggett 2014 1| Beyond The Push-Up

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
TIP#1 Choose a broad selection of exercises…..………………….p6
TIP#2 Really use the outdoors...…………………………………….p7
TIP#3 Prepare for seasonal training.…….…………………………..p10
TIP#4 Keep rest periods short...…………………………………….p11
TIP#5 Develop good range of movement.………………………….p12
TIP#6 Maintain a regular tempo……………………………………..p13
TIP#7 Perform reps to fatigue, not failure….……………………….p15
TIP#8 Use body levers to change resistance…...………………….p16
TIP#9 Work on ROM first…………………………………………….p17
TIP#10 Persevere with a simple set of exercises...………………….p18
© Jason Doggett 2014 2| Beyond The Push-Up

3. INTRODUCTION
Muddy Plimsolls is a London-based outdoor personal training
firm. We operate in urban green spaces in the UK. Personal
training clients who come to Muddy Plimsolls are seeking
healthy weight loss, increased energy and strength, improved
posture and flexibility and some muscle tone. That's a lot of
outcomes from a training plan.
The workout, as a constituent part of the training plan, should
move the client closer towards these goals as efficiently and
quickly as possible. That is what’s meant by an effective
workout.
I've written these 10 Tips for an effective outdoor workout,
with a number of readers in mind:
•a runner who would like to work on toning upper body
and core
•an exercise bootcamper who is finding those
exhausting, 'low skill level' exercises are not getting the
weight loss results they want
•a fitness enthusiast who would like to improve their
bodyweight abilities
•an exercise newbie who wants to 'get fit' without joining
a gym
© Jason Doggett 2014 3| Beyond The Push-Up

4. In our experience, outdoor training has two individual
challenges: the environment and a lack of specialist
equipment. So outdoor training lends itself to a bodyweight
workout, and these tips lean heavily towards that type of
training. I hope that find these tips useful whether you are
training in a trim trail, on a beach or in your back garden.
You’ll note that the advice found herein does not come with
referenced sports science research. Telling you that my
opinion comes backed by a University of Tucson 2009 study
of 24 adult males doesn’t help you make a decision about the
efficacy of my advice. You try these tips out and they work for
you or they don’t.
One final note. I have decided not to include a list exercises
for you to do. The internet is full of instruction on the ‘best’
exercises for abs or legs or whatever. In my opinion, exercise
selection at this stage is not as important as fixing the real
problems in your workout. The only exercises you need are
the basic ones you already know.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY‘BEYOND THE
PUSH-UP’?
I have used the push-up as a practical example for many of
the tips.
It isn't necessary for everyone to perform push-ups with every
workout. But I chose it because the push-up is a popular
© Jason Doggett 2014 4| Beyond The Push-Up

5. exercise; most people understand what it involves and it's
very accessible to perform.
I hope that these 10 Tips will encourage you to make the
most of the push-ups that you can do, but I also recommend
that you take these principles and apply them to all the
exercises that form your workout.
© Jason Doggett 2014 5| Beyond The Push-Up

6. THE 10 TIPS
TIP #1
Choose a broad selection of
exercises
I don't mean to start off these tips with a negative point but it has to
be said: the majority of outdoor workouts I observe tend to have two
elements that make them ineffective:
1. Focussing on just one or two exercises; so, a run plus a set of
push-ups and pull-ups.
2. Progressing this ‘workout’ by simply running for longer or adding
repetitions.
My first tip for an effective outdoor workout, then, is for you to adopt
as your workout a well-rounded collection of exercises. It is then that
you can apply the later tips (the second element, progression, will be
addressed from tip #4 onwards.)
Most people know the bodyweight basic movements: push, pull, twist.
And some of the common exercises: squat, lunge, pull-up, row. I call
these the 'desert island exercises'. They are available to everyone.
They are all you need.
Muddy Plimsolls training aims to improves abilities in clients such as
balance, coordination, power, force production, flexibility, speed, agility
© Jason Doggett 2014 6| Beyond The Push-Up

7. and quickness and endurance. If a client also plays a sport, then
training will also include elements such as reaction times and footwork
drills.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
The push-up is an excellent upper body exercise. It targets chest,
arms, shoulder and core muscles. But it is only one exercise. It mostly
takes place in one direction (pushing in the sagittal plane) and tends to
stress a small number of muscle groups.
If your outdoor workout is to be effective, it must contain a mixture of
push-pull exercises, all three planes of movement (sagittal, frontal and
transverse) and include both compound and isolation moves.
TIP #2
Really use the outdoors
This tip and the next are about the environment of your workout and
how it impacts on your training. An effective outdoor workout means
more than taking an indoor-gym workout and transplanting into your
local park. Making use of a kettlebell is one thing. But hauling a
barbell, a decline bench and a swiss ball out to the park is quite
another. And following a static, single-location, equipment-reliant
training programme, is taking all the things that are wrong with indoor
workouts and doing them outside.
I believe that effective outdoor training fixes many of the things wrong
with indoor workouts. But you have to use the outdoors for that to
happen. Here are three ideas to help you do that.
© Jason Doggett 2014 7| Beyond The Push-Up

8. Space
Parks are full of space. Precious, unoccupied space, Even the smallest
urban park tends to rival the floor space of the biggest gyms. Many
gyms in central London are underground due to the lower cost of
basement floors. That make headspace valuable real estate for them.
Studios may have more space but, when a class is on, often the only
option for movement are forwards and backwards for only a few
steps.
To date, Muddy Plimsolls operates in seven London parks that
represent 1,750 acres of land. But I see so much outdoor training that
takes place in one spot for almost an entire workout. What a waste.
Balance your workouts so that there is as much movement as there is
single-location work. Run between locations. Use the space you have
to hop, skip and sprint. And use the other form of space: head space.
Work on vertical jump training and other plyometrics. Run backwards
and forwards. And remember the frontal plane: side steps, side
lunges, side hops, 90 degree jumps.
Terrain
Muddy Plimsolls workouts take place on a variety of surfaces, when
safe and effective to do so. We've never been afraid of taking a
workout off the beaten path. Different terrain has advantages and
disadvantages.
Hard surfaces such as stone are best used for standing exercises that
require a sure footing. I would not recommend high impact exercises
(when both feet are off the ground, for example skipping or
plyometrics) as I find that knees and the lower back can complain after
just a short period of time.
© Jason Doggett 2014 8| Beyond The Push-Up

9. Tarmac is common throughout urban parks. Good for running and
quick turning exercises, when dry, as well as rope work (skipping) and
plyometrics. Monitor for shin splints and the knees.
This is also the case for asphalt which can lessen the impact on knees
and the low back.
Grass or soil provides a natural cushion for high impact outdoor
exercise and for floor work. Soft or uneven ground taxes the stability of
the foot, ankle and hip during running and requires us to expend more
energy in running and in plyometric movements. This also goes for
muddy or waterlogged ground. However these terrains can hide holes
or dips in the ground that can turn an ankle. Watch where you are
planting your feet and wear supportive footwear.
Beach (sand or pebble)/shale is usually the softest but also most
unstable surface.
Hills and Inclines
These are the most useful landscape feature I use during an outdoor
training session. An incline of any sort can produce a demanding
progression to a huge number of exercises. Running, sprinting,
skipping or similar plyometric exercises are the most obvious. After
that comes the lunge. But there are many more. Lay a mat down on a
very small incline and you can benefit from incline/decline push-ups,
abdominal exercises and push movements such as the bear crawl.
© Jason Doggett 2014 9| Beyond The Push-Up

10. TIP #3
Prepare for seasonal training
The basis of effective fitness training is regularity and consistency.
Whether you're experiencing a heatwave in summer, an autumn
shower or a snowy winter's day. If you put off exercising outdoors
because of less than optimal weather, your results will diminish. My
training is 100% outdoors so I have to do it. You may have options.
You may mix and match sessions in a gym or exercise class, or a
fitness DVD at home. If so, please keep outdoor exercise as year-long
as possible. Prepare yourself both mentally and physically.
In the UK we're lucky enough to have fairly mild weather. But for this,
you could say we pay the price with inconsistent seasonal weather.
Where you may live you may experience more extreme weather.
Obviously safety is your main concern.
In addition, climate affects performance. It isn't a good idea to go
running in winter in a flimsy t-shirt and shorts. It's slowing you down.
To get the most from your workout, you should feel comfortable when
exercising outdoors so that you can concentrate on your workout. You
should not be distracted with numb fingertips or the fact that you are
wet through from rain. Nor, in summer, that you’re getting sunburned.
Take time to equip yourself with protection from the elements.
•Trainers that give traction over rough or wet terrain.
•Base layer to protect against the cold.
•Rain-proof outer shell jacket.
•A high-sun factor sun cream and UPF clothing
© Jason Doggett 2014 10| Beyond The Push-Up

11. TIP #4
Keep rest periods short
The next five tips focus on what’s know as the acute variables of
exercise. The acute variables are elements of performing an exercise
that can be changed: how many repetitions you perform, how much
weight you lift, the speed at which you move through an exercise, etc.
Fitness pros love to play around with these variables. Doing so makes
massive changes (and subtle ones) to the results. And that makes
them endlessly fascinating to us.
Resting for long, unregulated periods of time between exercises is a
common practice amongst the outdoor exercisers I see. But results
diminish if the rest period is too long.
An advantage of outdoor bodyweight workouts is the ability to move
quickly from one exercise to the next. There's no set-up time with
fitness equipment or weights and you can move from one exercise to
the next quickly. So keep your rest/recovery time on the short side. At
Muddy Plimsolls, we favour shorter rest periods between 30 seconds
and 2 minutes.
The other practise that leaves money on the table is not timing the rest
period. This means the volume of effort from one workout to the next
becomes random.
Rest periods should have some uniformity about them. The
achievement of a personal best goal, such as completing a set of 20
push-ups will be made easier by regulating your rest periods. By
checking your resting times, you can replicate this challenge the next
time you train. And this will move you closer to your goal.
© Jason Doggett 2014 11| Beyond The Push-Up

12. Shortening and monitoring your rest periods between sets is a simple
way to increase training volume between each workout. Rest periods
are an easy variable to monitor in an outdoor workout: you just need a
simple watch.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
Perform as many push-ups as you can. It doesn't matter if you do
three reps or fifteen. Now rest for one minute. Then perform a second
set: as many as you can. Repeat the same rest period before a third
set. You know have three rep ranges. Next time you workout, keep the
rest period one minute. Now see how many more repetitions you can
do. There is a relationship between rest and reps.
TIP #5
Develop good range of movement
The range of movement (ROM) in an exercise is full and pain-free
movement of a joint during an exercise.
In my experience, a single good quality repetition - performed with full
range of movement - will have more positive results than a dozen
poorly executed repetitions. In fact, if you master range of motion first,
it will open the door to further repetitions
The positive effect come in improved strength, joint stability and
neuromuscular control.
© Jason Doggett 2014 12| Beyond The Push-Up

13. At Muddy Plimsolls, we encourage clients to perform exercises with as
much range of movement as possible.
A full range of movement can mean different things to different people.
There are a lot of factors as to how far a joint can move: flexibility,
levels of strength and old injuries can impede range of motion.
Should you always use full range of movement? Not necessarily. A
'partial' repetition (shortened ROM) can be appropriate when
rehabbing an injury or building up strength to perform an exercise for
the first time.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
The push-up is an exercise that is often performed with a limited range
of motion. This acute variable is often ignored in favour of being able to
perform many repetitions.
A full ROM for most clients will involve lowering oneself to the floor so
that the elbows are at about 90 degrees. This may involve touching
the nose or chest to the ground. But that depends; if you dip your
head towards the ground, you’re not going to achieve full ROM.
Likewise if you sink your torso down.
So good ROM in a push-up also requires good posture throughout the
body. Hips straight, core engaged, knees straight, a good distance
between the hands.
© Jason Doggett 2014 13| Beyond The Push-Up

14. TIP #6
Maintain a regular tempo
Varying the speed or rate at which the muscles move through an
exercise is an important training variable that's often overlooked.
Tempo training, as it's sometimes called, is seen as more of an
advanced form of training. But when resistance - the 'go to' variable
for most gym exercisers - is hard to come by because you're training
outdoors, tempo training becomes an important resource for
increasing the demand on the body.
As a general summary, slower speeds make it easier to maintain good
technique, increases blood flow to injured areas that are in recovery,
and allow for greater neuromuscular control and it's development.
Whereas faster speeds can increase the burning of more calories, and
improve power output and strength. Increasing the speed of a
movement places a greater demand on muscles. Consequently, there
is greater recruitment of the motor units within the muscles, particularly
the type 2 fast-twitch muscle fibres.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
Most push-ups I see are performed too fast. Hand in hand with rage of
motion, the thought process of the exercise seems to be: "I will aim for
10 repetitions. The only way I can achieve this is to go fast." This may
be a quick way to muscle failure (hey, an exhausting workout is a good
workout, right?) But it leaves you no time to correct poor form as you
move.
Choose a consistent, moderate speed. Say, 2 seconds to lower
yourself down to the floor, 0 seconds hold at the bottom, then 2
seconds to push yourself back to the starting point.
© Jason Doggett 2014 14| Beyond The Push-Up

15. TIP #7
Perform reps to fatigue, not failure
Most exercisers aim to perform as many repetitions as they can to
maximise the good effects of training.
However, if you push yourself to failure on a set of repetitions, you will
need longer to rest before attempting the next set. As I pointed out
earlier, longer rest periods begins to unravel the overall effects of an
effective outdoor bodyweight workout.
Working to a sub-maximal level of effort (i.e. training to 'fatigue')
means the muscles can recover in a shorter time period and you can
set off on your next set fairly quickly.
What is the difference between muscle 'fatigue' and muscle 'failure'?
Fatigue, to me, means the state of struggling to complete a repetition
with good form as opposed to simply failing to complete that
repetition.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
In the push-up, muscle failure is often experienced as having lowered
yourself down towards the floor but being unable to push yourself
back up. Another example is to have locked your arms straight - and
wobbling uncontrollably) at the top of the movement but be unable to
unlock the elbows without crashing to the floor.
Muscle fatigue in a push-up is the feeling, as you perform the exercise,
that you can't help but twist and turn your whole body to perform the
next rep. There’s a sticking point, in the bottom position, when you
realise you're not going to be able to push yourself back up from the
© Jason Doggett 2014 15| Beyond The Push-Up

16. ground. Don't be shy of collapsing to the ground: you're not very high
up. Once this happens, you have reached your rep range for that
exercise.
TIP #8
Use the body levers to change
resistance
Resistance is a key acute variable in exercise when it comes to
developing strength. However, when training outdoors, especially
when you are on the move, it is difficult to carry much weight around
you. You can develop strength without access to dumbbells, barbells,
weight plates, kettlebells, sandbags, etc. So developing strength
primarily comes from manipulating your own bodyweight.
The body can supply enough weight for a challenging resistance
training programme to any level of exerciser.
You do this through using your overall weight as a resistance and also
your limbs as levers. Your arms and legs have their own individual
weight and centre of gravity. The arm on average is 5% of total body
weight. The leg is around 17% total body weight.
For instance, a side bend, with arms down by the sides can be
progressed by placing finger tips on the temples. This moves the
centre of gravity higher up the body. By extending the arms straight
above your head, you extend the length of the body lever and increase
demand to the obliques to continue the side bend.
© Jason Doggett 2014 16| Beyond The Push-Up

17. By the time you've used up all your options for manipulating your own
bodyweight, you're going to be at an advanced level of abilities and
general physical fitness.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
I encourage all clients - men and women, and of all ages - to aim to be
up on their toes for a full push-up. In this position, the whole body acts
as a lever. It’s why the push-up seems so difficult. Shortening that
lever, by resting knees on the floor, will reduce the overall weight you
have to push off the floor.
To experiment with this concept, perform a set of full push-ups. Then,
for the next set, drop down to your knees. This ‘drop set’ approach
lessens the load you have to push and brings you back from the point
of fatigue. The other acute variables can now come back into play.
Range of movement can increase, your tempo can be controlled, and
rest periods can stay short.
TIP #9
Work on ROM first
Manipulating any one of the above acute variables will make your
outdoor workout much more effective. I would recommend, though,
just focussing on one of them to start with. Get good at one of these
variables before trying moving on to the next.
Which one should you try first? It depends on the individual and I
would have a more accurate answer following an assessment.
© Jason Doggett 2014 17| Beyond The Push-Up

18. However for the purposes of this guide, considering the readership
and based on my observations of many outdoors exercisers, I
recommend starting with range of motion.
Fixing the missing range of movement in exercises would build a solid
foundation for building a more effective workout. There is something
about partial range of movement that leaves so much on the table.
Especially when you have made the time and effort to get outside and
train.
ABOUT THE PUSH-UP
As already discussed, shortening the lever of the body by dropping to
the knees makes the push-up more accessible. Combine this
approach with finishing your set just before muscle fatigue will ensure
good range of motion in every rep, every set. Perform three sets of 20
repetitions in this way, with a moderate rest period of, say, a minute. At
this point, you can start to introduce other variables to increase
demand on the body and effectiveness of the workout.
TIP #10
Persevere with a simple set of
exercises for a few weeks
The push-up is easy to try, difficult to master. One could say the same
for outdoor workouts and bodyweight exercise in general. I believe
bodyweight training is a fantastic movement system for a general
population. It can help participants of almost any age and strength
level to achieve an excellent level of physical fitness, renewed energy
and physical confidence.
© Jason Doggett 2014 18| Beyond The Push-Up

19. I hope that the tips contained in this book have made clear the
framework for an effective workout.
So, go beyond the push-up and persevere with a simple collection of
exercises over the next few weeks. Training outdoors, one is free to
experiment with exercises - both trying and failing - without a thought
for anyone else observing except, perhaps, the odd man and his dog.
***
© Jason Doggett 2014 19| Beyond The Push-Up

20. About the author
Jason Doggett is a Fitness Coach and co-Founder of Muddy Plimsolls
Ltd. He lives in London with his wife (also his business partner) and
small daughter.
Muddy Plimsolls Ltd is London’s best outdoor personal training
service. To discover more about becoming a client, please complete
our online Enquiry Form.
This book is for educational purposes only.
In the event that you have been advised to seek medical clearance prior to undertaking exercise, you should
contact your doctor and take responsibility for obtaining written permission prior to the commencement of any
exercise programme based upon the content of this book. You are responsible for monitoring yourself
throughout the exercise programme and that should any unusual symptoms occur, you should cease
participation and inform your doctor of the symptoms.
Talk with you doctor before you start becoming much more physically active. Follow his/her advice in regards
to which kinds of activities you should be able to do. None of the information found in this book is designed to
replace working directly with a fitness professional.
www.muddyplimsolls.com
© Jason Doggett 2014 20| Beyond The Push-Up