Variations including Standing Squats, One-Leg Squats, Plie Squats, Wide-Stance Squats, and Overhead Squats. Think you can't get enough stimulus out of Squats? Try doing 50 perfectly formed repetitions and see how tired your legs are!

STEP UPS

Brutal is best word to describe this exercise when done properly! Using nothing more than a picnic bench, a piece of playground equipment, or even just a decent size rock, you simply step up onto your elevated surface, step down, and then repeat on other side alternating back and forth.

By keeping your back straight and your head up entire time, you will maximize recruitment of all of your leg muscles, and you will get an incredible cardiovascular workout as well. Go for perfect form and you will quickly see benefit of this great exercise.

CHIN UPS

The outdoor version of Chin Ups and Pull ups can be done using anything from a low-hanging tree branch to any number of different pieces of playground equipment.

When done properly, Chin Ups and Pull Ups will humble most people, even avid exercisers. Bring your body up completely until your chin is at or above your hands, and lower back to start under control. Repeat for as many as you can do!

UPHILL SPRINTS

Don't try this one until you can run a good 100-yard dash on level ground! This exercise is just what it sounds like - running uphill. Run up a decent size hill as fast as you can, walk back to bottom, and repeat. Bring oxygen, but leave your pride at home, or else hill will take it from you!

DUCK WALKS

This exercise is so simple, yet about as hard as it gets. Simply squat down until your thighs are at or below parallel to ground, stay in that position, and start walking. Go about 10 steps and then walk backwards to your starting point. Repeat as many times as necessary (which won't be many) to reach total exhaustion!

As you can see, doing outdoor exercises has all of benefits listed above including one benefit that wasn't listed - they are hard! If you are up to challenge and sick of gym, give your body and your mind an Earth-moment and get outside and play!

An overlooked method of burning fat is weight training. Many people understand that by adding muscle mass you burn more calories around clock, which may result in more fat loss. However, what most people fail to realize is that a weight training routine can be manipulated to achieve a specific hormonal response that is conducive to fat loss. In other words, you will get a different hormonal response from doing high repetitions as opposed to doing low repetitions. The key then is to manipulate training variables in such a way that it will promote fat loss. I will elaborate further on this topic in a future article.

Debunking Common Exercise Myths, Part 2...coming soon!