Increase the weight stack or add an extra plate to the bar. When exercising in the gym it is pretty obvious how to increase the challenge of your lower body exercises.
Not quite so easy when training outdoors. Without access to easily-calibrated equipment the process of progressive overload becomes a little more challenging.
Here are four ideas you can use to get around this problem and ramp up the difficulty of your favorite lower body exercises when exercising outdoors away from the fancy gym machinery.
Use A Slower Tempo
Slowing down is one of the easiest ways to increase the difficulty of any outdoor exercise for the lower body. A slow tempo helps eliminate momentum and ensures you spend a longer period of time in the trickier portions of the move where your muscles are doing more meaningful work.
Single Leg Exercises
Shifting your focus to single leg exercises like reverse lunges and bulgarian split squats increases the challenge on the working leg without having to add any external resistance.
Looped Resistance Bands
You can add resistance to lower body exercises by wrapping looped bands over your shoulders and pinning them down underneath your feet. This works well up to a point but eventually you end up putting large compressive forces through the spine and shoulders. Use this idea with some common-sense and avoid going too heavy!
Wear A Weighted Vest
Perhaps the simplest way to increase the challenge of any outdoor exercise for the lower body is to wear a weighted vest. The best ones are adjustable so you can continue adding weight as your strength and fitness improves. Walking lunges with an extra 30kg strapped to your body is no joke!
To conclude: If maximum lower body strength is your top priority then you are going to need access to some heavy duty equipment. For the rest of us these simple ideas are more than enough to build a strong, athletic lower body without ever having to enter a gym!