The last months were full of changes for me, one of which is switching my personal training business from the Orange County area to the Los Angeles area, what a difference! In the middle of training for the upcoming bodybuilding show in September, my diet and cardio were supposed to become exponentially more stringent and intense. Just like many of you, I’m also afraid to wake up to an hour of training a Stairmaster or a treadmill workout, especially before breakfast. Who would not want to start with a beautiful stack of strawberry pancakes and t-bone steak from the nearest IHOP! Alas, for me it will not happen, at least for now. But one thing I can do, and this is what I would like to share with all of you, is the opportunity to change my boring cardio routine, all through my new location in Los Angeles. You see, there is nothing better than a good workout in an environment that motivates you and gives you thrills and excitement that you will not find in any room in the gym. By taking my workout outdoors, I was able to eliminate the horrible hour of morning cardio observation on the clock, watching the seconds. Here I would like to share with you some of my favorite environments, all located in beautiful Los Angeles.
For those of you who enjoy the beach, nothing compares to a morning workout near the beautiful coast of California in Santa Monica. Next to the Santa Monica pier, there is a zone in which there are rings, pull up and push stations, a rope to climb, and also a place for many other exercises. For me, I like to start working on rings, work my way through the bar and finish it with a grueling rope that challenges my upper body strength like nothing else in any room in the gym. After repeating this scheme 4 times, I complete my training for 2-3 miles on the coast, enjoying the coastal wind and the sound of rumbling waves, distracting me from physical exertion.
Next, I would like to mention one and only UCLA stadium open to the public. I like to come here on weekends because nothing compares to hardcore workouts on the campus of one of our own Los Angeles sports champions. Starting with 8 sets of 100-meter sprints with a 1-minute rest between sets, I get my heart rate to be ready for even more intensity. Then I fasten on a weighted vest and head for the stairs. Halfway up the stairs and back down a total of 10 tedious sets. It hurts ... WANT YES! But the results do not deserve this. Bars and routes at the end of the football field complete my work here with about three schemes. For those of you that are just starting, start at a slower pace, this is advanced training and injury prevention, listening to your own body.
Finally, there is an activity that we can all remember when enjoying children, simple and simple cycling. There is nothing like the simplicity of cycling here that many of us can bring us back to the pleasant memories of the children of those days when we did not care about the world. Like children, many of us ride our bicycles for hours, never watching the hours to watch when it is time to stop, and most of us don’t find it tedious or physically drained. I thought to myself: why ride a bike in a stuffy gym when I can buy a real bike and a pedal with a landscape in the center of Los Angeles next to me. With a good mp3 player and my new bike, my 7th cardio session flew by me before I even knew it! From the moment of my first trip, I can't help but ride a bike twice a week, you just can't get over the excitement!
Now we see that you do not need to live near green pastures, forests or mountains to get high-quality workout outdoors. Regardless of whether you live in Los Angeles or New York, megalopolises give us many opportunities to challenge ourselves physically and mentally. We no longer need to think that in order to get a good workout, you MUST go to the gym, it is not. As in the case of something else, repeatability is aging, and the last thing you need is to get bored and tired of the exercises. The environment in which you find yourself for training will make a huge difference to your mental state, which will ultimately affect your intensity in your training. I urge you all to take a look around your local environment and find a way to physically challenge you outside of your local gym. For those of you who are in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend the places mentioned above. Take a step out of your comfort zone and go out there, as our great ancestors once did, and have fun!
