Good Monday Workout! It's Great to get Outside Again!

I took my Monday workout to Lowry Park. There's a fairly secluded spot with some nice thick grass and soft ground next to a creek that feeds into the Hillsborough River that is probably my favorite place in the park.

Located only a mile from my house, in the middle of Tampa, it is still possible to see some typical Florida wildlife, including turtles, alligators (see above) and even manatees.

Not many people are likely to come walking through. It helps me to avoid hecklers, or worse, those half-wits who think their idle curiosity gives them the right to interrupt my workout. Anyone who trains outdoors in a public place knows who I'm talking about.

"Hey, is that some kind of kerrotty?"

"Do you give kerrotty lessons?"

The only sounds were the loud "bloops" coming from a troop of siamang apes at Lowry Park Zoo across the street. I took it as cheers of encouragement even if they weren't able to see me practice.

One of my most vocal fans

The soft grass and smooth ground makes it the perfect place to practice the Yau Kung Mun Sam Jie Guan (Three Sectioned Staff) set. I'll write more about that later.

An example of the Sam Jie Guan or Three-sectioned staff

After staking out my spot, I did a full-body stretch. Surprisingly, I haven't lost much, but my glutes, my adductors and my hamstrings are killing me today. I followed that up with a simple circuit that will be the core of my workouts for this month.

This circuit consisted of five runs each of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Tiger Charges from the Forest) set and the Sam Jie Guan. The soft ground makes it easier to do those set since the MFCL has several of the Yau Kung Mun knee drops.

But the reall killer was the roll-outs done while striking with the Sam Jie Guan. I've put on about 30 pounds since I last did any serious training in Judo, JuJitsu or Aikido. You'll really feel that weight when you hit the ground, no matter how soft it is.

Between each run of the Sam Jie Guan and the MFCL, I did a set of six to 10 claw pushups and 15 crunches. To keep things interesting, I did my last three sets of pushups with my feet elevated on a park bench.

Like the stretching, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I haven't lost much from lack of practice. In fact, my strength has increased and the pushups were much easier than the last time I did them.

I guess I did get something from that body building at Gold's Gym.