For a Good Workout, Look No Further Than Your Neighborhood Park

For your next workout, personal trainer Jim Post wants you to take a page from your child ‘s playbook.

Actually, he wants you to visit their playground.

There — among the climbers, slides and swingsets — you ‘ll find endless opportunities for staying in great all-around shape, Post says.

Keeping fit naturally, outside and with nothing fancy in terms of equipment is the philosophy behind Post ‘s new Wisconsin Union mini-course offering: "The Playground Workout. "

The three-week session that begins April 28 is designed to show just how easy it is to play your way to better health.

Post, 46, a certified natural trainer who teaches fitness classes at Madison ‘s Monkey Bar Gym, should know.

"I used to be a couch potato, " he says.

By making some simple changes a few years ago, including dropping his alcohol intake and getting off the couch, Post lost 15 pounds fast.

"I got more active. I didn ‘t have to do some weird diet, " he says, though he did start making healthier food choices.

He also found his way to Monkey Bar, the "old-school " gym founded by Jon Hinds. With no exercise machines and no mirrors, Monkey Bar stresses "full-body exercise " that incorporates a variety of basic movements.

Using the Monkey Bar approach, Post shed more weight, for a total of 50 pounds in all. "I discovered I could do this stuff. "

Post says it was Hinds, son of Lifeline "functional fitness equipment " creator Bobby Hinds, who inspired him to devise the Playground Workout mini-course. Much of the class is based on Monkey Bar ideas.

"Jon Hinds inspired me with his stories of watching children on a playground, which is what inspired him to get back to basics, relearn how we moved so naturally when we were kids, " Post says. "My idea was to set up a workout that uses the equipment commonly found at playgrounds, such as monkeybars, swings, etc. "

Post, originally from Mauston, is also a photographer and has taught several photography mini-courses at the Union. He pitched the workout idea to Jay Ekleberry, director of Wisconsin Union mini-courses, while the two were discussing additional courses Post might do.

"He threw it out as a wacky idea, and I love wacky ideas, " Ekleberry says.

Ekleberry also saw the Playground Workout as a nice change of pace for Union mini-courses.

"If you look at what we offer in the exercise area, everything ‘s yoga, " he says. "And that ‘s OK, yoga is popular.

"Why I got excited about this is that it ‘s a unique way to add variety to your workout. . . . And most of us have a playground somewhere in the neighborhood. "

The site for Post ‘s mini-course, McKee Farms Park in Fitchburg, was chosen because the city allows more free reign in its park space than Madison, which would have required a paid permit to conduct such a class.

"And they have a great playground out there, " Ekleberry says of the Kids Crossing space in the park.

Muscles in motion

Indeed, the playground has pretty much everything Post needs to put you through your paces. And he will do so by incorporating activities kids do every day.

"I use the Monkey Bar Gym philosophy of using body weight and a minimum of equipment, " Post says. "Lots of exercises — climbing, jumping, pushups, pullups — can be done using the basic gear at the playground. "

Post says his course will focus on four areas: running, jumping, climbing and crawling.

Yes, crawling.

Prepare to get down and probably a little dirty — this is a playground, remember. Count on being low to the ground, on all fours, at some point.

Also count on being sore from this the next day, maybe even the next three days. Even if you think you ‘re in good shape already, you likely will use muscle groups that have been dormant for a while.

"Everything is working, " Post says. "We ‘re not just isolating one part of the body. "

You ‘ll do the monster walk, some kangaroo hops, maybe a relay race. Post even plans to put workout participants through an obstacle course on the playground equipment during the last day of class.

Again, he says, these movements are based on what you ‘re likely to see from kids and "just how natural they move. "

"It ‘s really inspiring to get that natural movement back, " Post says.

Quick fit

Even those without a lot of time for a workout can use Post ‘s playground ideas.

"A workout like this does not have to be long to benefit from it, " he says. "Even 15 minutes would be enough to work up a sweat and get the blood pumping. "

And if you hit the playground with kids in tow, the workout is great because there ‘s plenty they can do right along with you. Even a simple game of tag can count toward the running portion of the workout — and climbing, too, if you ‘re going up and down trying to avoid being "IT, " for example.

"Any playground with a metal swingset and sand, picnic tables and maybe a carousel will work just fine, " he says. "The more stuff to play on, the more you can use your imagination to make a boring exercise into something new and challenging. "

Also a bicyclist and a runner (something he prefers to do barefoot, incidentally, because it allows him to run more naturally), Post occasionally incorporates his playground activities as part of something else he is doing that day.

"When I ‘m bicycling, I sometimes stop at a playground and do a strength workout, then go back to bicycling. "

Post says being fit is a good way to maximize the ability to help others when needed. Case in point is his plan to participate in this summer ‘s Bike MS two-day ride (Waukesha to Whitewater to Madison) to help raise money for multiple sclerosis research.

And he hopes his Playground Workout course will show that getting in better shape doesn ‘t have to be a complicated process.

"I thought this would be an easily accessible way for others to get fit, hence the class, " he says.

Room for improvement

All of Post ‘s exercises take the same approach, starting with setup and stability, then building strength and, if possible, adding power.

Setup and stability involve establishing proper body positioning. "Everyone pretty much starts at stability, " he says.

Many exercises grow out of yoga poses, which Post includes as part of his workout warmup that gets joints moving and the heart pumping.

Once basic stability is achieved in an exercise, strength is increased by doing a certain number of repetitions or continuing for a given amount of time.

"Maximum benefit comes from short, intense burst of activity, followed by short periods of rest, " Post says. Again, he cites Hinds ‘ Monkey Bar influence.

"One of Jon ‘s favorite formats is going strong for 15 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest. Alternate between two exercises, such as pushups and chinups, and go for 10 minutes. You ‘re sweaty and beat and you feel great. "

This is also where the power aspect can come into play. As more and more strength is gained, it ‘s possible to add a little different element to an exercise to push it into the power realm.

A regular pushup, for example, can move into a pushup where the hands come up off the ground for a clap in between reps. Or a pullup on a swingset crossbar can turn into one where, with a little hitch forward and back, you pull yourself all the way up to be supported by your forearms (think gymnast on the high bar).

Starting with basics and building from there allows people of all fitness level to use these workout ideas, Post says.

"Obviously, you need to pace yourself to your own limits, " he says. "Even doing just a couple of reps each time will produce results. "

But, he emphasizes, "anyone can do this, beginners, athletes — it doesn ‘t matter.

"That ‘s why it ‘s fun. "

And fun is certainly fitting here — it is the playground, after all.