Presto - The Workout Bucket List: Over 300 Life-Changing Races, Epic Challenges, and Incredible Hikes, Bikes, Lifts, and Runs

I f youve flipped open The Workout Bucket List, I feel as if I already know a little bit about you: You can relax on a beach, flop on the couch, or chill out in a hammock but only for so long. Because youve got to move!

Youve got to race to the top of a hill, bound from rock to rock like a kid, hike to a clearing to take in that incredible view, and leave no part of life untasted or untouched. Youve got this one life to live, and youre going to squeeze every ounce of juice out of that sucker. And youre happy to get a little sweaty while you squeeze.

Sound like you? Or the version of you that you want to be? Then youve come to the right place.

The 300-plus workouts that follow will get you moving and motivate you. With this list, youll explore the world, learn some history, and discover what your own body can achievethe places it can take you, the feelings it can give you, the triumphs you can experience, and the ways it can connect you with friends, family, and the people you love. Whether youre a couch potato with big dreams or an Ironman triathlete, there are workouts here that you can try, succeed at, and have a blast doing.

How do I know? Because when Im not writing about workouts, Im trying them! Im forever exploring adventurous physical experiences, and Ive been sharing them with readers as a fitness journalist for publications like Mens Health and Shape, among others, for more than 15 years. So if youre looking for new, exciting ways to move your body, Ive got ideas!

Maybe youre planning a summer road trip? Add in a stop to bike up (and probably fall down) Americas steepest street, in my hometown of Pittsburgh. Or go for a run up Jerry Rices training hill outside San Francisco. Or book a boat yoga class on the Chicago River.

Are you a sports fan? Try Steph Currys pregame dribbling routine, or an NFL linebackers workout favored by President Herbert Hoover. Are you a history buff? Sweat through a workout from the gymnasium onboard the Titanic. Are you a world traveler? Bike with zebras, use your body to power amusement park rides in Italy, or hike up a volcano and stare into a bubbling lake of lava. Cant leave town? Try a workout inspired by The Rock, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, or a decorated Army veteran and Dancing with the Stars competitor.

Heres the rub: These workouts may or may not give you rippling abs. If thats what youre after, put this book down and find another one that promises you a washboard stomach. I cant promise that. But what I can promise is that whether you try 1, 20, or all 300-plus of the workouts that follow, youll be happier, healthier, more confident, and amazed at what you can do and what the world around you has to offer. Your body is your passport to an endless universe of exploration. Think of The Workout Bucket List as your personal road map.

So lets get startedright now!

Pull up a chair and lets get fired upnot with a pep talk, but with some movement. Perch yourself on the front of the seat and sit tall with your feet apart and flat on the floor. Square your shoulders and suck in your gut. Let your arms hang loose at your sides. Now, thrust your head forward between your legs, as if you were trying to plant your forehead on the floor. Feel all the air push out of your lungs.

Once youre empty, come back up quickly. Throw your head up and back, eyes on the ceiling. Put a big smile on your face. Bring your shoulders down and back, like youre gripping a pencil between your shoulder blades. Feel the head rush and all that good stuff flying around your body. Repeat twice more, for a total of 3 reps.

Thats a Magic Three, a pump-up method from fitness legend Jack LaLanne. In 1960, the TV host shared this exercise as his cure for what he called Americas pooped-out-itis.

Take Jacks advice: Throw your shoulders back, put on a big smile, and get your blood pumping. Feeling good? Great! Now get ready for some fitness adventure.

Exercise can take you placesliterally, of course, if youre running or cycling. But moving your body can also mean moving all over this great big planet of ours. Whether its for a race, a climb, or a sight to see, exercise can be the key that turns travel into adventure. These six chapters will help you turn that key and become a globe-trotting fitness explorer.

There are more than 300 million Americans, and we move in a million different ways in thousands of places. are your guide to some of those movements that will help you explore our great nation, sweating and smiling from sea to shining sea. Start on the Eastern Seaboard with these Atlantic Coast adventures.

BEGIN AT AMERICAS BEGINNING: EXPLORE THE REVOLUTION IN A 4K RUN

C utting through the streets of Boston is a red linea two-brick-wide strip that runs perpendicular to the rest of the citys brick-lined streets. Its more than a line, though: The two-brick path is a time machine that can take you on an instant tour of the American Revolution.

Its called the Freedom Trail, and it connects 16 sites across Boston that were integral in the founding of the US. Starting at Boston Common, the famed park that was converted into a militia training ground, the path winds through downtown Boston and across the Charlestown Bridge to Bunker Hill, site of the first major battle of the Revolution. Along the way, youll pass Americas first public school, where Benjamin Franklin was a student. It stops at Paul Reveres house, from which he started his historic midnight ride, and the Old North Church, where one if by land, two if by sea indicated the source of the oncoming British attack. Theres also a Chipotle which was once the Old Corner Bookstore, where works including