I like to train outside. I love the feeling of being out in the fresh air with the sun beating down on me while I exercise and I often head over to a local park for some bar work and calisthenics.

But as I was doing my normal run the other day, I decided to stop at the large gathering of rocks that sits on the back side of the baseball field near my house.

I have always just run past them without thinking too much about it, but this day I got the idea to actually use them as part of my workout.

A Killer Rock Workout

working out with rocksAs you might imagine, trying to find information about workouts with rocks usually ends up with your search results looking something like this. And after yelling “I didn’t say THE Rock” at my computer a few times, I gave up and decided to write this post.

So the workout I did was pretty intense and what I liked about it was that I was able to do a fully functional total body workout in less than 25 minutes. And I was smoked!

I know a lot of you reading this are limited in your access to weights and fancy equipment and many of you like training outdoors, so I am always looking for ways to get a great workout without needing a gym membership or a shitload of stuff.

Here is the workout I did. I didn’t label the exercises in the video, so here they are in order:

  • Squat to overhead press
  • Woodchoppers
  • Slams
  • Crossover pushups
  • Rows
  • Deep pushups
  • Heavy rock uphill carry
  • Overhead uphill carry
  • Soccer throws uphill

Why It Works

Here is what I like about this workout:

  • It uses most, if not all, muscles in the body.
  • It challenges you in a completely different environment. No cables, ropes, or pulleys from the gym. It forces you to use a ton of extra muscle fibers in order to lift, throw, and carry these things.
  • It uses all three planes of motion, which is critical for functional strength.
  • In forces your core to work extra hard to stabilize your body. More core work=better!
  • It puts you in an unstable training environment. The uneven ground and forces your hip complex to adapt. You won’t get this on a regular old gym floor.
  • It’s fun and gets you out of your current routine, which often times can be boring and repetitive.
  • The possibilities are near endless for exercise selection. Almost anything that can be done in a gym, can be done with rocks.
  • It’s free!
  • You can find the right size/weight rock to fit your abilities and you don’t need to look like The Mountain to do it!

workout with rocksSo my challenge to you is to find some rocks and create a similar workout. Let me know in the comments when you do and if you have any unique exercises to add!

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