A beach workout combines the fun of a day on the sand with the calorie-burning power of a day at the gym. Read on to learn a simple four-part beach workout plan that you can do to help achieve your fitness goals, plus get some health tips for safe summer fitness. This beach workout for beginners will help even a fitness novice gain muscle and burn fat while enjoying some of the most pleasant activities of the summer.
Warm Up
Stroll the beach for five to ten minutes to get your blood moving.
Although warming up when you’re already sweating during a summer day may sound redundant, it’s crucial to give your muscles a good warm-up so that they’re at peak flexibility before you start pushing them to the next level in your beach workout. Begin your beach workout with a brief five to ten minute stroll to gently raise your heart rate and get your blood flowing. This smart practice will banish stiffness, lessen your chances of injury, and reduce the soreness you’ll feel after your beach workout is done.
Hit The Waves
Swim (in view of a lifeguard) for fifteen minutes. As your stamina increases, up your swim time to half an hour.
Now that you’re warm, it’s time to hit the water. Swimming not only feels great on a hot summer day, it gives you a solid full-body beach workout. Whether you’re a doggy-paddle beginner or an accomplished master of the butterfly stroke, fighting the water’s natural tides gives you full body resistance so that all of your muscle groups work together. Plus, the natural floating you experience from being buoyed by the water reduces joint strain during this part of your beach workout. This low-impact section of your beach workout can burn over 350 calories an hour! Of course, regardless of your fitness prowess, don’t forget to make sure that you’re swimming in view of a lifeguard; better safe than sorry.
Get Your Heart Pumping
Walk for three minutes, then run or jog for one. Repeat five times.
Once you’ve enjoyed some water time in your beach workout, it’s time to take your calorie burning cardio to the next level. Hit the sand for some interval training that will condition your heart for endurance, train your heart’s responsiveness, and burn calories to boot. Walk for three minutes, then run for one. This kind of interval training burns over 250 calories per hour, and the fitter you get, the longer you’ll be able to keep it up for. Aim for a total of twenty to thirty minutes of interval training when you start your beach workout, then up the length by one interval per week as you continue. Interval training improves your heart muscle’s strength and response time, lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke, so make intervals the “heart” of your beach workout!
Cool Down
Cool down with a five to ten minute walk in the sand.
Now that your beach workout is at a close, it’s time to cool down, gently lowering your heart rate back to normal, and enjoying the endorphin rush that is your body’s natural reward for a beach workout well done. If you’ve followed the minimum time limits in this beach workout plan, you’ve burned about 200 calories in less than 40 minutes. If you were able to put more time into your beach workout, you’ve done even better. Celebrate with a five to ten minute stroll along the coastline, water bottle in hand. This helps your heart recover from the exertion, and helps prevent soreness-causing lactic acid from building up in your muscles after your beach workout. Plus, it just feels great to walk in the sand.
Beach Workout Safety
Don’t exercise during peak heat, drink water every 15 minutes, and rest if you feel faint.
Before you actually hit the sand for your beach workout, let’s talk about summer fitness safety in general, and cover a few specific summer fitness safety tips. More people suffer dehydration during the summer than during any other season, and every drop you sweat during your beach workout needs to be replenished for you to avoid dehydration or heatstroke. As you go through your beach workout, make sure you’re toting a water bottle in your beach bag. Stop exercising to take a drink of water at least once every ten to fifteen minutes. While you’re catching a few sips, take a few deep breaths as well to make sure that you’re not overexerting yourself. If you start to feel dizzy or faint at any time during your beach workout, gently lower yourself to a sitting position on the sand, and pause for some deep breaths, a rest, and plenty of water. Try to get to a patch of shade where you can cool off. If you need it, don’t be afraid to ask for help getting to a sitting position, getting into the shade, or asking someone to stay with you until you feel better. To lower your risk of dehydration and heatstroke, don’t exercise during the midday hours between 11am and 2pm, when the sun and temperatures are at their highest and hottest. Instead, schedule your beach workout for the early morning or late afternoon hours when the temperature drops a bit.
