8 Exercises You Can Do Outside of Your RV

While RVing is a good time to have fun and relax, it’s also beneficial to stay active while RVing. Those who are avid about living an active lifestyle may find themselves going on walks, hikes, or even runs around the campground. If you aren’t interested in these types of activities, you can simply do some bodyweight exercises right outside of your RV, which are great for your health. They improve your muscular endurance, strength, and flexibility, work multiple muscles at once, and can easily be modified. If you’re looking to get in a quick workout at your campsite, here are eight bodyweight exercises you can do outside of your RV on your next trip.

Planks

If you’ve held yourself up in a plank before, then you know how long that minute can feel. As tough as this exercise can be, it's definitely worth the effort. Planks strengthen your core, improve balance, flexibility, and posture, and decrease lower back pain. If you aren’t ready for a forearm or high plank, you can modify this exercise by performing it on your knees. If you want to increase the difficulty of your planks, add in some mountain climbers, shoulder taps, jacks, or hold a side plank to target your obliques. Start by holding a plank for 30 seconds or one minute, then increase the time as you get stronger.

How to Do a Plank

1. Begin on all fours with your toes, knees, and either your forearms or palms planted on the floor.
2. Your forearms or palms should be right below your shoulders and you should be looking straight down toward the floor.
3. Tuck your toes and lift your knees off of the floor.
4. Engage your core and ensure that your body stays in a straight line.
5. Hold the plank with proper form until you hit your time goal.

Push-ups

Roll out your mat next to a river for a gorgeous view while doing a set of push-ups! Similar to a plank, push-ups are great for bettering different aspects of your fitness, such as balance, posture, and flexibility. They also bring up your heart rate, meaning you’ll burn more calories during the movement. In addition, push-ups increase upper-body strength by targeting your abs, chest, back, and shoulders. You can decrease their difficulty by performing them on your knees or at an incline on a bench, rock, or any other stable surface at your campground.

How to Do a Push-up

1. For a standard push-up, begin on all fours and place your palms on the ground a little bit wider than your shoulders. 
2. Place your feet shoulder-width apart or a little bit wider.
3. Move your body down until your chest nearly reaches the floor and push yourself back up.
4. Repeat this movement for as long as you can.

Burpees

There’s nothing like starting your day with a quick high-intensity circuit during sunrise at a quiet campground. Plus, you’ll feel better going into your day of RVing activities if you start it with some burpees—one of the most effective fat-burning movements. This fast bodyweight exercise is a great full-body movement that combines strength training and cardio to burn calories and improve your power, agility, and balance. You can also modify the intensity of this exercise by removing the jump or stepping back into the plank instead. Or, increase the intensity by adding a push-up at the bottom or tuck jump at the top.

How to Do a Burpee

1. Start facing forward with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your body so your palms meet the floor.
3. Jump back into a plank position and then forward into a squat position before exploding upward.
4. Repeat this movement for as long as you can.

Squats

Squats are one of the best bodyweight exercises to target your lower body, such as your calves, hamstrings, gluteus, and quads. There are several squat variations you can do to keep this exercise exciting. Perform a standard squat, jump squats for greater intensity, sumo squats to target your inner thighs, quads, and hamstrings, elevated heel squats for greater focus on your quads, or split squats on a bench at your camp-site to improve your stability.

How to Do a Squat

1. For a standard squat, start by facing forward with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Point your toes straight.
3. Keep your knees slightly open as you move your hips back until you’re in a sitting-like position. 
4. Keep your head, chest, and shoulders up throughout the movement. 
5. Push through your heels and stand back up into a standing position.
6. Repeat this movement.

Lunges 

Lunges are a great unilateral movement to get your legs moving—with or without weight. There are several lunge variations you can perform on a mat or the grass to hit every major muscle in your legs, such as quads, gluteus, and hamstrings, and correct any imbalances in your body. Try doing a circuit of static lunges, back lunges, front lunges, and side lunges. To bring it up a notch, add in some jump lunges to really feel the burn!

How to Do a Lunge

1. For a standard lunge, start with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Step one foot forward and bend your knees until both of your legs come to a 90-degree angle.
3. Keep your core braced and body upright throughout the movement.
4. Push off of your front heel to get back into a standing position.
5. Perform the same movement with your other leg.

Tricep Dips

Tricep dips are a great bodyweight exercise for toning and strengthening your arms and shoulders, as well as your core since it requires you to raise your hips. For this movement, you’ll need to find a bench, picnic table, or large rock to hold onto. If there’s no surface to do these on, you can perform wide push-ups to target your shoulders, chest, and arms instead. Try incorporating tricep dips into a full-body high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuit outside of your RV!

How to Do Tricep Dips

1. Find a bench, picnic table, or rock at your campground.
2. Sit down on the surface, extend your legs, and point your fingers toward your feet with your palms flat on the surface.
3. With your feet hip-width apart and heels on the ground, use your arms to lift your butt away from the chair and then lower your legs and elbows.
4. Lift yourself back up and repeat this movement.

Bicycle Crunches 

Weighted abdominal exercises are great, but if you don’t have access to gym equipment while RVing, then bicycle crunches are an effective exercise to do instead. Since this bodyweight movement requires you to rotate left and right, you’ll target major abdominal muscles, such as the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, and obliques. In addition, this movement requires you to lift your legs, so it’ll improve your flexibility, coordination, and balance as well.

How to Do Bicycle Crunches

1. Start by laying down on your back.
2. Place your hands behind your head so your elbows are bent.
3. Raise your knees so your feet are off of the floor.
4. Brace your core and twist to the left or right until your elbow meets your opposite knee. At the same time, straighten out your other leg.
5. Switch to the other side and continue this movement for as long as you can, alternating sides.

Jumping Jacks 

Who said you had to go on a hike or run to get a cardio burn? There are many other effective cardio exercises you can perform right by your RV, such as jumping jacks! This full-body movement is great for improving your bone health, burning calories, working every muscle group, and promoting better balance throughout your body. Use jumping jacks as a warm-up to a full bodyweight workout or incorporate them into a cardio session.

How to Do Jumping Jacks

1. Start by standing on a flat surface with your arms by your side and feet shoulder-width apart.
2. With your knees slightly bent,  jump outward and raise your arms over your head.
3. Jump back into a shoulder-width distance and lower your arms to your side.
4. Repeat this movement for as long as you can.

By getting creative and finding a little bit of motivation, performing bodyweight exercises while RVing is possible. Bodyweight movements are great for strength, balance, coordination, heart health, and more. Plus, you can perform them anywhere you desire—from in front of a stream to behind your RV. Whether you want to grab a friend or train solo, you can do any of these exercises to keep yourself moving on your trip.

See you on the road!