It’s been a long, hot summer and fall is in our sights as September approaches. While the summer heat may be past its peak, beach season still has a few more weeks in full force. As fun as it may be to bike on the boardwalk or run alongside the waves, sometimes it can be hard to find a sense of variety in your workouts at the beach.
Believe it or not, exercising in the sand is actually more engaging on your muscles, and less harmful on your joints. Sand absorbs the energy you expend pushing into it (this is why your feet sink into the ground), while hard ground surfaces give you a helpful rebound effect that disengages your muscles and puts a lot of damaging pressure on your knees, ankles, and shins. The softer the sand, the more difficult the workout.
Instead of a morning run, go down to the beach and give one of these circuits a try to make your muscles burn!
The numbers of repetitions for each exercise are provided in ranges - do as many repetitions as you can within the given range, and if you can’t hit the lower number, just do as many as you can! Perform each exercise with minimal rest in between. Once you’ve finished a round of all the exercises, take a 1-2 minute break before starting the next round. Repeat each circuit for 4-6 rounds.
Circuit #1: Full Body Blaster
1. 10-20 Push-ups
2. 15-20 Squat Jumps
3. 15-25 Mountain Climbers
4. 45 Jumping Jacks
Circuit #2: Get Sandy
1. 8-10 Burpees
2. 25-45 Crunches
3. 8-10 Supermans
4. 30-60 second Plank
Circuit #3: Leg Day
1. 15-20 yard Sprint (back and forth)
2. 15-25 Leg Lifts
3. 10-15 yards Walking Lunges (back and forth) OR 15-25 Bodyweight Squats
4. 30-45 second L-sit
These circuits will build up muscle and burn down fat, especially if you’ve never tried High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) before. Good luck, and enjoy these last few weeks of summer!
