Funny, But Effective, Workout Ideas

[The Ox King]

I was reading through some old stuff, and saw the "Angry Birds Workout". Before I clicked the link, I just imagined buying some Angry Bird Plushes, opening them up, adding weight, closing them back up, and playing a real life game of Angry Birds. Ever try to throw a twenty five pound medicine ball more than ten feet (like a softball, not discus)? It's hard.

Made me think about funny, yet effective, workout ideas.

Aside from chasing chickens (genuinely, very difficult. Fast little buggers) and doing chest presses with a cat (particularly when the cat is not willing to stay still), what are some unusual, bizarre, or otherwise hilarious fitness activities that are actually quite effective?

[Guzzi]

Anything that involves children!  

 

if you actually get physically involved with your children, piggyback rides and waterbomb fights are two of my favourites, you will work up a sweat in no time at all! Not what you were looking for, but a totally valid workout.  

[The Ox King]

On 12/16/2016 at 10:35 AM, Guzzi said:

Anything that involves children!  

 

if you actually get physically involved with your children, piggyback rides and waterbomb fights are two of my favourites, you will work up a sweat in no time at all! Not what you were looking for, but a totally valid workout.  

Piggyback rides are a fantastic workout, especially as my nieces get older! Even more incentive to get stronger!

[kenashi]

Following this! I'm new to this site and fitness in general, and finding quirky workouts is a motivator.

 

When I play with my dog, he wears me out with tug-o-war. Other than that, parkour and larping are always a workout 

[Guzzi]

On 17/12/2016 at 10:16 PM, kenashi said:

 

When I play with my dog, he wears me out with tug-o-war. Other than that, parkour and larping are always a workout 

 

Yes, that will do it!  Someone on here posted recently about rucking groceries. It's a money saver and workout in one! There's also plenty of people who use sledgehammers to work out and I remember someone working out with "The Bloody Slosh Pipe" which you should check out if the search function works for you. (It never does for me. It hates me.)  

[Darth Yoga]

On 12/16/2016 at 8:30 AM, neomattlac said:

Aside from chasing chickens (genuinely, very difficult. Fast little buggers)

 

I can confirm this. Fast and surprisingly maneuverable.

 

My favorite is dog wrestling. I've got a 75lb dog, and she loves to wrestle. She doesn't like being picked up though.

 

We've got a wood stove, and that gives you a good workout. Cutting firewood, even with a chainsaw, is tiring work. Plus hauling it back, splitting it, stacking it, etc. 

 

Also building stuff. That always involves a lot of hauling stuff around. I can verify from recent experience climbing up and down ladders to nailing boards to ceilings is a full body workout. But if I wanted to, I could build a rock wall or something.

 

I generally have enough mandatory manual labor to do at home that I have to take it into account when planning workouts. It isn't enough to entirely substitute for workouts, but it is enough that I really can't do workouts to failure except on rare occasion. I need to be able to do whatever manual labor the day calls for.

[rebel117]

On 17 December 2016 at 4:35 AM, Guzzi said:

Anything that involves children!  

 

if you actually get physically involved with your children, piggyback rides and waterbomb fights are two of my favourites, you will work up a sweat in no time at all! Not what you were looking for, but a totally valid workout.  

 

One of my favs is throwing smaller kids (who I know - obviously lol) in the air. They love it, and they won't stop coming back for more - and it's so hard to say know to those little puppy dog eyes, unless you're seriously worried about dropping them. 

Also, slack lining can be pretty funny if you're with a group and none of you has any/very much experience  A funny game my classmates and I used to play was finding 2 very small, hard to balance on rocks, getting a length of rope, and playing a hybrid game of tug of war/king of the hill - surprisingly a good workout.

Paintball with a gauntlet to run can also be pretty funny, but not exactly cheap.

[IslandGirl_Becks]

My nephew is my 1 rep max weighted pull up... not that that keeps him from asking "do it again?"

 

I love dog-sitting for friends. Every dog I watch wants to go outside and play every 15 minutes, leading to sprints around the yard, throwing, wrestling... fun stuff! 

[The Ox King]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 6:25 PM, Darth Yoga said:

We've got a wood stove, and that gives you a good workout. Cutting firewood, even with a chainsaw, is tiring work. Plus hauling it back, splitting it, stacking it, etc. 

I love cutting wood, but it tires me out quick. Also, we've had unseasonably warm weather and have only needed the wood stove a few times. On the other hand, I've got tires and a sledgehammer.

[pseudobison]

When I was younger a friend and I would make insane obstacle courses in the back yard and do timed races. (It helped that his brother was an avid collector of traffic cones, wooden pallets, and tires, which gave us a lot of material.) We got creative with it -- I believe at least one required you to hit a target across the yard with a soccer ball halfway through before you could proceed, and another involved knocking down cones that your competitor would hide around the yard in advance. Just thinking about it makes me want to do it again.

 

Had another friend who played a variant of golf where the number of shots isn't important: you hit the ball, run on foot to try to find it, and the first person to complete 18 holes is the winner. No turn-taking - everyone plays simultaneously. I can't remember what that variant of the game is called, but apparently it's a thing.

 

 

[The Ox King]

14 hours ago, pseudobison said:

When I was younger a friend and I would make insane obstacle courses in the back yard and do timed races. (It helped that his brother was an avid collector of traffic cones, wooden pallets, and tires, which gave us a lot of material.) We got creative with it -- I believe at least one required you to hit a target across the yard with a soccer ball halfway through before you could proceed, and another involved knocking down cones that your competitor would hide around the yard in advance. Just thinking about it makes me want to do it again.

 

Had another friend who played a variant of golf where the number of shots isn't important: you hit the ball, run on foot to try to find it, and the first person to complete 18 holes is the winner. No turn-taking - everyone plays simultaneously. I can't remember what that variant of the game is called, but apparently it's a thing.

 

 

That sounds incredulously fun.