Play Away the Pounds: Work Out in the Park!

Power Pledge

Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs

• Stand with feet hip-width apart, 3 to 4 feet behind a bench, and lean forward to place both hands on top of seat back slightly more than shoulder-width apart.
• Keeping abs engaged and body in a straight line from head to heels, bend both elbows to lower chest toward bench.
• Press through palms to forcefully push up, and just before arms are fully extended, quickly lift right hand off bench and bring it across body to touch left shoulder.
• Immediately bring right hand back to start. Repeat, this time lifting left hand, to complete 1 rep. Do 12 reps.

Tip: To increase the chest-chiseling resistance, press up off the bench seat rather than the bench back.