A Beach workout is a great way to enjoy your vacation without taking a week or so off from exercising. In fact, you can enjoy that vacation a little more by hitting the beach for a challenging full body workout.
Taking your beach workouts to the sand is a great way to challenge your stability, agility, mental toughness, and overall fitness level. Sand provides a unique “unstable” surface that is easy on the joints but very effective in working the muscles of the feet, calves, thighs, hamstrings, glutes and core. It will also challenge your aerobic and anaerobic systems, so you’ll not only work on that cardiovascular endurance, but you’ll build strength and torch some calories at the same time!
Don’t have access to a beach but still want to take advantage of the benefits that sand training provides? No worries….head over to your nearest sand volleyball court and get ready to work!
Beach Workout – Sand Exercise Fitness Circuit #1
#1 Walking Lunges: 8-10 each leg
#2 Bear Crawl: 15-20 yards
#3 Squat Jumps: 10-12
#4 Lateral Shuffles: 5 quick shuffles to your right/5 quick shuffles to your left for 2 consecutive sets
Perform 3 rounds of the above before doing the following finisher:
Sand Shuttle Run: Place a marker at 5, 10 and 15 yards. Sprint to the 5 yard mark and back, 10 yard mark and back, 15 yard mark and back. Rest 30 seconds and perform for 5 total rounds
Beach Workout – Sand Exercise Fitness Circuit #2
Perform the following circuit in a “30 seconds on/15 seconds off” format for 3-4 total rounds
#1 Push-Ups
#2 Lateral Skaters
#3 Plank of choice (push-up, forearm, t-plank, pledge plank, etc.)
#4 Mountain Climbers
#5 Squat Jumps
Beach Workout – Sand Exercise Fitness Circuit #3
Perform the following circuit for “30 seconds on/30 seconds off” for 4 total rounds
#1 Bodyweight Squats (fast w/ good form)
#2 Burpees w/ Push-Up
#3 Broad Jumps
#4 Spiderman Climb Planks
#5 Alternate Reverse Lunges with Overhead Reach
About the writer: Ken Grall is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and owns and operates an Edge Fitness in Madison, Wisconsin. Learn more about Ken.