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"Do you remember what it felt like to get out on a playground and run around for hours? Thanks to having two very rambunctious little kids, I&amp;#x27;ve gotten to retry lots of playground equipment... and let me tell ya. As an adult, some of that stuff is a lot harder than I remember. The monkeybars: Remember swinging feet above the ground, going hand-over-hand across the monkeybars using only your arms to get to the other side? Guys. I&amp;#x27;ve been working diligently on my upper arm strength but I would be a liar if I said the monkeybars were as easy for me now as they were back then. Try it--you have to use the muscles in your arms (of course) and your core to propel you from bar to bar. Bonus move: use the monkeybars for chin-ups. Swingset: OK, doesn&amp;#x27;t seem so hard--at first. But consider this: there are whole workouts developed solely for the swingset. Swinging actually uses your entire body, from arms to stomach to back to legs. To make it even more difficult, try to get started without pushing off from the ground; use only a back-and-forth body motion to try to get going. Once you&amp;#x27;re stopped again, try some swing lunges: stand about one foot in front of the swing and put one of your feet backward so that it rests on the swing. Slowly lower yourself until your thigh is parallel to the ground--you&amp;#x27;ll feel it in your glutes and thighs. The slide: Just doing the slide the way kids do it--i.e., over and over again (does any kid really go down just once?)--totally counts as exercise: you climb up the steps (or the ladder), you whoosh down the slide, you climb up the steps, you whoosh down the slide... you get the picture. Then try this move: place one foot at the bottom of the slide and the other at the top (you&amp;#x27;ll be standing in a lunge). Let the top foot slowly slide down to meet your bottom foot; move your bottom foot to the top at the same time. It&amp;#x27;s like a slanted, slow treadmill--and it&amp;#x27;ll kick your butt. What was your favorite thing to play on at the playground? Do you ever use playground equipment to work out? More health challenges: * Rethink Your Rice for Better Health * Practice &amp;quot;Fitness Sundays&amp;quot; * Go Get a Massage! Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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