Urban training: Your city is your gym
Optimizing your workout by using street furniture is within your reach: simple, free and highly effective. Ready for the challenge? You may have no idea how many opportunities your town or village offers for bodybuilding exercises.
Wherever you are, unleash your creativity without unnecessary complications. Use the environment around you and your own body weight to train, as long as you pay attention to your posture. The possibilities are endless, whether you use a staircase, a bench or a low wall.
This art of training now has a name: "Calisthenics". It's a physical discipline that develops strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, agility and coordination, exclusively with bodyweight exercises that can be performed anywhere and without special equipment. Basic movements include push-ups, pull-ups, dips, squats, lunges, as well as chest and leg raises. So, ready to make Calisthenics part of your daily workout routine?
3 training facilities
A park bench:
Lunge: Place one foot on the bench, the other on the floor, and do a half-squat, maintaining an upright posture. After 15 repetitions, switch sides. Raising your leg on the bench will intensify the effort on your thighs! You'll feel the heat building up. Ideal for sculpting toned thighs without putting excessive pressure on the knees.
Triceps dips: Place your hands on the bench, fingers pointing backwards, and bend your elbows, keeping them close to your chest while stabilizing your pelvis. Make sure it's your elbows that bend, not your buttocks that sink to the floor. The use of a bench promotes optimal posture while increasing the load on the arms. In other words, it's a greater challenge for greater results!
Push-ups: A workout staple, can be made even more effective by incorporating them into your street furniture. Place your hands on a bench, shoulder-width apart, and flex your arms, vigorously pushing the bench back. Here are a few options to personalize your experience:
- Easy: on the backrest
- Difficult: on the seat
As you descend to the ground, the challenge increases. Using the bench allows you to adapt the exercise to different levels, encouraging you to push yourself to the limit with each session. Get ready to challenge yourself and push your limits with these push-up variations.
Stairs:
Mountain climber: Place your hands on a step, toes touching the ground. Bring one knee towards your chest, then the other, alternating at a steady pace. The crucial thing here is to keep your pelvis level with your shoulders, which requires constant muscular commitment! Using steps for this exercise raises your upper body, ensuring optimal alignment.
Triple step: Stairs are made to be climbed, so don't hold back! You can even climb them quickly, taking two or three steps at a time, which gets both your cardiovascular system and your legs working!
Staircases are everywhere, so find your favourite and try to beat the record!
Squat jump: Climb a step, remaining well bent, then drop back, carefully cushioning the landing. This exercise goes beyond the simple squat, by also working on your explosiveness.
Low wall:
Plank with hands on wall and alternating leg raises: Place your hands on the wall, ensuring that your shoulders, pelvis and heels are carefully aligned. During the exercise, make sure you maintain total stability without any parasitic movements. Raising your hands will make the exercise easier, but it's essential to remain vigilant about alignment.
Seated standing squat: Imagine the low wall is a chair; lower yourself as if you were going to sit down, but without actually touching the surface. The low wall makes it easier to adopt the correct posture for squats (this technique also works with a bench).
Chest raise with legs on the wall and back on the ground: If the ground is suitable (grass or a comfortable surface), explore every conceivable variation of abdominal exercise! This position has the advantage of raising the legs, improving the position of the back and increasing the effectiveness of abdominal training.
Lyon's favorite spots
Studying in Lyon? Here are 3 must-see spots:
Parc de la Tête d'Or
The Parc de la Tête d'Or, Lyon's green lung and emblematic garden, extends over 105 hectares, including a 16-hectare central lake. Its wide, shaded paths and modern landscaping create the ideal setting for jogging and pleasant bike rides. If you prefer yoga or gentle gymnastics, you can also practice under a tree or on the vast expanses of lawn. For a relaxing outing, explore the rose gardens and zoo.
Quai du Rhône
Right in the heart of Lyon, the quays of the Rhône run from north to south over a distance of 5 kilometers, offering a unique blend of urbanism and nature. Thanks to a recent urban redevelopment, this area has become very popular with Lyon's sports enthusiasts. The wide quays delight joggers and cyclists, and the sports equipment available allows you to do pull-ups, sit-ups or parallel bar exercises. You'll love the opportunity to work out right on the water, in the heart of the city, less than ten minutes from your gym.
Parc Blandan
At the crossroads of Lyon's 3rd, 7th and 8th arrondissements, the 17-hectare Parc Blandan is shaping up to be the city's hottest new recreation area. A vast area in the lower part of the park is specially dedicated to sports, offering volleyball, basketball and soccer pitches, ping-pong tables and fitness equipment. For joggers, the 920-meter stretch along the ramparts is ideal for a morning run.
Montpellier's favorite spots
Studying in Montpellier? You absolutely must know these 3 spots:
Les Rives du Lez
These banks are among the best places to run in Montpellier. As well as being a favorite spot for joggers of all levels, these green spaces are also popular with family strollers. The particularity of this flat course over several dozen kilometers makes it easy to carry out long or split workouts. This type of session is ideal for getting out of your comfort zone and quickly achieving results for your figure.
Georges Charpak Park
The light and airy Parc Charpak is ideally located in Montpellier. Covering an area of 10 hectares and open to the neighborhood, it offers the perfect space for your outdoor sports sessions. The wide paths are ideal for sprinting or skipping rope exercises, while the lawn invites you to practice burpees and other movements such as jumping jacks.
Muscle Beach Palavas
Let's leave Montpellier and head for the seaside. Less than 30 minutes from the city center, you can enjoy a dedicated street workout area with your feet in the sand. This recently-developed beachside street workout park is equipped with everything you need for your workout. It attracts beginners and experts alike, who come together to share their passion.
Favorite spots for happy students
Your Gestetud residence
Whether you're in Lyon, Montpellier or Saint-Etienne, the staircases at your residence are among the best and closest places to work your cardiovascular system and your legs.
