Try the Trail-building Workout

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is proud to present its very own GREEN GYM–the trail-building workout.

Tired of smelly, expensive indoor venues and boring workouts? Visit our spacious outdoor woodland facilities, which offer cardio warm-ups with unparalleled views and a wide range of trail-building workouts to tone all of your muscle groups.

Activities begin with a scenic hike into trail work sites to get the blood pumping. All muscle groups will then be thoroughly tested using the following tools:

Upper Body

• Arms: clippers and hand saws; carrying tools to work site, working the winch
• Biceps and triceps: small sledge hammers, stone shaping hammers, drill
• Shoulders, core, and overall balance: carrying buckets of crush
• Core, back, and shoulders: rogue hoe, pick-mattock, rake; upgrade to 10 lb. sledge hammers for a real challenge and stress-release workout

Lower Body

• Legs: Squats when picking up medium rocks and crush buckets
• Quads and back: rogue hoe, pick-mattock; dead lifting and carrying small to medium rocks

Full Body

• Side-hilling with a rogue hoe or pick-mattock (voted the best overall conditioning calorie-burn)
• Exercise your spatial intelligence by visualizing how to orient irregularly shaped rocks around obstacles and set them in the most stable positions.

Bonus effects of trail building workouts include camaraderie, a sense of accomplishment, and improved hiking paths for everyone to enjoy.

Best of all: It’s free!

To get your workout on, find a trail crew near you.