Beach Workouts

April 10, 2010 0 Comments

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 swimmingin 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

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.

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