Southampton - If someone tells you their workout includes a little benching you probably envision a gym setting with weights on a bar and a bench press apparatus perhaps with some grunting and maybe a little groaning.

From the front of the bench you can start with a step up pattern. (Courtesy Photo: Jeffrey Thayer)

With the exception of the grunting and groaning you may be wrong on all counts. There's a different type of bench workout that could have you choosing your words more carefully in the future. With a little imagination the formerly innocent park bench can be transformed into a multi-purpose workout station.

After jogging up to your favorite bench, be it set back in a private spot or smack-dab in the middle of town you should be ready to sweat.

From the front of the bench you can start with a step up pattern, alternating feet or concentrating on one side for multiple reps is fine. Adjusting from here you can add movements like a front or back kick at the top of the movement. You can also do this step up facing sideways and maybe add a side-kick motion into the mix just to keep it interesting. If the seat is too low to challenge you, use the arm to step up on. These variations hit all the vital points of the legs including glutes and thighs.

To pick it up a notch you can forgo the stepping and get to the jumping. Start with a deep squat for a little extra spring and hop up on the seat. You can step down or jump down and land in a nice soft squat to get some eccentric work on those legs. Being a little creative you can jump up and down on an angle forming a wedge pattern or maybe add some squat thrusts or jumping jacks in between each leap up. This type of bench workout is much more versatile than the gym type.

If you're feeling like you need a little more challenge, once you've jumped up to the seat, jump over the back of the bench. Make sure to come down in a nice soft squat using your legs as shock absorbers. Run around to the front and do it again.

A bench can be a great place to get some abs done particularly in the early morning or in dirty or sandy locations. (Courtesy Photo: Jeffrey Thayer)

Continuing in the plyometric direction, you can add some more jumping into the mix. Standing on the seat, hold onto the back of the bench facing sideways and vault your legs over, run around to the front and repeat facing the other direction. If you're feeling frisky you can vault from the seat to the ground and back over to the seat again keeping your hands on the back bar. Because the ground and the seat are different heights, it's important to do some reps facing each direction. Playing leap-frog on the bench is a little on the tough side but can be fun. Start with your hands on the bench seat, bring your feet up to the seat and skip your hands up to the back of the bench, followed by your feet as you crouch on the top of the back bar and then jump off to the rear of the bench, run around and do it again. A word of caution, don't stop your momentum while squatting on the back of the bench, just keep moving forward. The leap-frog game does not work well in reverse.

If you're really missing your gym style workout rest assured you can get some chest and shoulder work on this new apparatus as well. If pushups on the flat ground are too easy for you, start with your feet up on the back, arm or seat of the bench and get busy. All the classic adjustments apply; you can move your hands close together or point your fingers out or stagger your hand position. Also try working just the bottom half of the motion or pausing for as long as you dare at the bottom. Don't get lazy and let your back sag either. If flat pushups challenge you, put your hands on the bench, the higher the easier.

One of my favorite variations from either position is to hand walk around the bench. Whether your hands are on the ground or the bench, the important thing is to keep your elbows bent - the more the tougher. Walk across the seat, up onto the arm, across the back, down the other arm and back to the seat. Of course you have to go in both directions and stay perpendicular to the bench. You can even do a pushup between each step over. Your arms shoulders and chest should be feeling pretty special after a few laps.

A bench can be a great place to get some abs done particularly in the early morning or in dirty or sandy locations. You can start with some basic crunches on the seat and move onto all of your usual variations of lifting the knees and lifting the legs up straight, maybe even some bicycle-kicks if the bench is wide enough. You can also stabilize yourself with the arm of the bench while you do some reverse crunches by rolling your hips up and down. Another great ab exercise for the bench is knee tucks. Sitting on the edge of the seat lean back and bring your knees up in front of you. Keeping your feet off the ground crunch your upper body forward as you pull your knees in toward your chest. You can hold on to the front of the seat or let go and cross your arms in front of you.


There are a myriad of variations with every exercise out there that can keep you breathing hard and having fun doing new things; just try out the new stuff slowly and then work it into your routine. If you're on an early morning jog through one of the villages you can even sprint from bench to bench picking a different exercise at each. The important thing is to have fun and keep your muscles interested.