Let’s Take This Outside…

…your workout that is! I know when I travel I like to keep up some type of workout. Or else, I will regret it when I get home to West Hollywood. Plus, I like to eat what I want. So yes, everyone knows that the sun shines year round here in L.A., but where can you get a great workout outdoors? While boot camp style outdoor workouts abound, who needs a 6 a.m. commitment when you are on vacation?

Enter the UCLA Stadium.

If you need a little inspiration, you can watch the Track and Field team go through their paces, hurdles and pole vaulting from time to time. There’s also a little eye candy for everybody. The other day, my friend and trainer Erin Lanahan and I went through one of her favorite circuit workouts. It looked a little like this:

• Easy jog up the Stadium Stairs.
• 200 yards of lunges. The track is marked so you can easily see when you’ve done 100 yards. Then you do walking lunges back the other way.
• Exercise Bands: Loop them up to this steel structure at the bottom of the stairs. 20 chest press. 20 squat and pulls. 20 bicep curls. 20 over the head tricep pushes.
• 2 sets of sprints up the stadium stairs.
• TRX: Hook it up to that cage thingy and get into plank and do 10 knee pulls and 10 core pushes (aka. push your butt to the sky and then back into a plank).

We did 3 sets of this circuit…you do the math. It was hot, and I forgot my sunscreen. So remember your sunscreen, water and a little cash for parking. There are structures at UCLA. Although you may get lucky and score some free parking along Veteran, it can be a little difficult.

Other great outdoor workouts in LA include: Runyon Canyon, The Santa Monica Stairs, and the Hollywood Reservoir. And if you feel like a little daytrip when visiting Hollywood? Head out to Malibu for some of the most gorgeous hiking trails and views in California.

To workout with Erin, click here. Note, she also works with clients in-home, in hotels and at gyms in Los Angeles. And let’s just say that you may see some pretty well-known faces out at one of the gyms she frequents. But the gym is like Chateau Marmont…no photos or obvious celebrity gawking. I am not sure if you will officially get kicked out…but it’s way uncool. BUT, it is inspiring to see some of those physiques up close and personal. Just pretend you’re not staring. Sunglasses may help…but they fall off during push ups.