Haven’t gotten around to getting a gym membership yet? Want to take advantage of the radiant rays and the unclouded, azure sky? Don’t let your walk to class or expeditions to take the trash out be the only time you become acquainted with the serene outdoors.

With this step by step guide, you can get a fulfilling workout while exploring the most untouched and tranquil parts of campus. Join the Royal Purple on what we call “The Hawk Hike.”

The workout begins by the pavilion across from the nature preserve behind Wellers Hall. Do any stretches or warmups that you know, then head across the street to the nature preserve.

Begin warming up with a light jog on the paved path, until you’ve hit a fork in the road between the continued paved path and a grass path to your left. Turn left onto the grass path and keep jogging until you reach the wooden bridge.

Use one half of the wooden bridge to do various dynamic stretches.

According to runnersworld.com, dynamic stretches help increase your range of motion while static stretches are held in elongated positions for a specific amount of time. Since this is a cardio work out, it is important to do dynamic stretches to improve running performance.

Do straight leg kicks by kicking one leg up at a time to touch your hands as you make your way half way there and back on the wooden bridge. Next, do forward lunges by stepping one foot forward as both legs are bent at a 90 degree angle, one with you knee to the ground and one with your knee up.

The last dynamic stretch is called high knees, similar motion as straight leg kicks but with bent legs kicking knees up to touch hands reached straight out. Make sure to keep core tight during each stretch.

Move on from the bridge and jog at moderate pace to the grassy field and do three sets of suicide running drills. Use each end of the grassy field as your marker and complete a rep by running across to touch the ground on the end of the field, then return to the other end to touch the ground, then repeat again. This is one rep, do as many reps as you can within 15 minutes.

Proceed through the field to the gravel path, turn right and continue to jog at consistent speed. Every time you reach a fork in the road, turn onto whichever path is slightly inclined and make your way up the hill. Continue jogging up upwards at a heightened speed until you have reached the top of the hill near Perkins Stadium.

Cool down by lightly jogging down hill and coming back the way you came. Once you have left the nature preserve head back to the pavilion and use the grassy area to do static stretches as your heart rate begins to slow down. You can also use this time to do any other workouts such as an abdominal workout.