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Whether you’re lucky enough to live near the beach or you just like to stay in shape while vacationing in paradise, hitting the sand and surf for a workout can be a fun challenge for your muscles – and you can build in a great sweatfest with no equipment!
A few things to keep in mind:
When getting ready for a workout, it’s best to start with some dynamic stretching and to get some light cardio in so you gently raise your heart rate and core temperature. Just like in a workout at the gym or in a group fitness class, you want to make sure that your warm-up incorporates some of the moves you’ll be doing throughout the workout.
But, of course, when you’re on the beach, you’re battling even more challenges: an unstable surface, the sun elevating your core temperature more quickly, and visual and audio distractions that could prevent you from properly getting everything ready for the more intense workout that will follow.
So for the first 5–10 minutes, I recommend:
Ah, the core. It’s not just about getting defined abs (although that’s a nice side benefit); having a strong core, plus flexibility on all of the adjacent muscle groups, helps you do everything better: walk, carry groceries, climb stairs, and more. Again, the beach presents some exciting challenges, and I promise that if you take your favorite core workout from the gym mat to the beach sand, you’ll feel it in some very different muscles!
Listen, I love a good treadmill walk as much as the next gym rat. You can watch TV, read a book, have a nice even surface, and even a handy little timer that tells you when your time is up. But for intense cardio that feels more like playtime than worktime, I love going outside. And everything about cardio at the beach is more challenging (if you’re doing it right).
Regardless of whether you’re at the gym or on the beach, please do not skip your cooldown! You worked so hard to elevate your heart rate and core temperature in the warm-up and workout that it can be dangerous and ineffective to just stop. Keep in mind, too, that the sun will have taken a toll on your body’s core temperature and helped you sweat a bit more, and may have caused your muscles to work in a way that they’re not used to.
Remember, movement is movement! So if you want to try to get a workout in that doesn’t feel like work, a few fun ideas to burn calories and increase your strength include playing beach volleyball, building sandcastles, collecting shells (try squatting down to pick them up instead of bending over!), or even bodysurfing with the waves The beach is a fun and exciting place to be, but being there doesn’t have to mean you’re sacrificing your daily workout!
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