Back to the Survival Workout...

Wednesday, October 2, 2013
I’d received an email from my friend Nancy Desmond of the Cleveland Metroparks asking about Tour Ohio and thinking it was time to try the Survival Workout.  I invited her to North Chagrin, warning her that I was out of shape and getting into it only gradually. 

I arrived early and got in a 35-minute run.  I'm trying to prepare my body for Adirondack hiking, which I'll be doing this weekend, and felt I needed the extra work.  I'm still concerend about my hip and feel I need to strengthen it with weight bearing exercise.  It went smoothly and I jumped in the car at the conclusion and quickly drove to our meeting point for the Survival Workout.  She was waiting when I arrived.  When she exited her car, she looked worried.

“I’m afraid.  I think you’re going to hurt me with this thing,” she said.

She’d been off most of the summer with a back issue and had been going through extensive physical therapy.  I surely didn’t want to be responsible for a relapse…but if it occurred, I assured her I’d leave her deep in the woods so no one would know.

“Nancy…I don’t like to hurt people.  I’m going to show you many of the different things I incorporate into the workout, but don’t think you have to do them all.  Pace yourself,” I cautioned her.

We did some push-ups, pull-ups, core work and bounding and then moved off down the trail.  She did extremely well throughout the workout and really enjoyed doing all the muscular endurance work outdoors – which is the point, of course.

“The Metroparks wants to do more with introducing and educating people about fitness and wellness and how they can achieve those things using the park.  Would you be interested in working with us on that project?” she asked as we hiked.

“I can think of nothing I’d enjoy more.  I’m all about finding ways to use outdoor recreation to meet fitness needs and using the park is my first choice…obviously,” I said.

I’m hoping more comes of this.  I explained my philosophy of using a fitness evaluation to know where you are as the best way to know where you want to be and outlining a plan to get there.  It could easily be done in the park and then use the park’s resources to design programs to meet needs.  What could be better?

Survival Workout:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.
Calories burned:  600.