I was first introduced to UNDERSUN resistance bands when the Covid-19 quarantine hit. Most of my workouts were based around rock climbing, which was immediately removed from my reality thanks to Covid shutting down the climbing gyms. I started doing HIIT workouts at home with my girlfriend to keep fit and reduce the anxieties that the strange new reality was introducing to my life.
After getting used to the new workout routines and the quarantine restrictions began to lift, I started thinking about new ways to combine workouts with more outdoor activities. Even though gyms started opening back up, I personally didn’t trust the close quarters and sharing equipment with strangers. My focus went back to outdoor workouts, paired with my other hobbies, like hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking.
Living in gorgeous Salt Lake City, the mountains provide incredible views and a fantastic playground to exercise in. While beautiful, the summers are extremely hot, hovering in the hundreds for the majority of August. Most of my workouts have to wait until the evening, resulting in a limited time of tolerable temps to work out in. I was finding it difficult to decide between a mountain bike ride or a resistance band workout. But why not combine the two?
A couple weeks ago I went out for an outdoor circuit workout with my friends, Reed and Carmen, and incorporated a resistance band HIIT workout in the middle of our mountain bike ride. We had a blast creating a cycling-inspired workout without adding any noticeable weight to our bags.
We spent the first 30 minutes ascending the trail on our bikes, getting our heart rate up and our muscles warmed up. When we hit our first summit, we did a 30-minute outdoor upper body workout looking over the beautiful Great Salt Lake at golden hour.
Once we finished out workout, we hit the trail on our bikes for a little extra cardio, and topped the day off with some exciting downhill riding with an incredible sunset view. Needless to say, I’ll be combining these two activities much more often in the future! I hope this inspires you to incorporate your resistance bands into fun new outdoor fitness challenges.
